Friday, 22 August, 2014  -( 67˚F / 19˚C & cloudy in Ithaca @ 9:45 am ET )-

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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*** NOT from CBC News— :

— Somebody just re-tweeted a nearly whited out photo: – See Below, I hope –  “Malek Jandali @MalekJandali” – “My name is Katya: I am one of 17,000+ #Syria children killed by brutal #dictator #Assad war crimes against #humanity” — Looks like somebody is escalating the propaganda campaign to psyche you into ‘wanting’ their next war.

Tweeted Photo

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Russian Aid Convoy = “A Direct Invasion of Ukaraine”?

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“Lead Stories”

-Updated- Ukraine calls Russian convoy ‘direct  invasion’   { }

$431,000 stolen in armoured truck heist in Montreal subburb   { ‘Halloween-masked thieves pepper-spray 2 armoured car guards and steal what another link calls ‘Nearly $400K’ }

Winnipeg cleans up after mall, roads, basements flooded   {  }

Canada’s  inflation  rate slows to 2.1% in  July as gas price hikes cool: StatsCan   {  }

Russian aid convoy rolls into Ukraine without permission   {  }

Ice Bucket mishap injures 4 U.S. firefighters, 1 critical   {  }

Hamas kills 18 suspected informers for Israel in Gaza   {  }

How lessons from other cities may help Ferguson heal after Michael Brown shooting   {  }

-Updated- At least 30 dead in militia attack on Sunni mosque   {  }

Looks like a Tanker to me

& the story below popped up when I hit ‘refresh’:

-New- -12 Turkish sailors stranded on ship in Quebec a ‘barbaric’ situation { ‘Twelve Turkish sailors are stranded on a ship in Sorel, Que., say they haven’t been paid for two months and are now out of food, a situation called “barbaric and beyond comprehension.” 9:47 AM ET }

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“Offbeat”

Exploding rabbit population vexes residents in Sudbury neighbourhood   { Exploding rabbits? Has Monty Python been seen near Sudbury? }

Thunderstorm send Winnipeggers into streets with canoes, snorkels   {  }

Spider-Woman’s butt sparks conversation about sexism in comics   { Oh, you think men and women with impossibly sexy physiques wearing ridiculous costumes might have something to do with sexism? I think I remember young women reading ‘Archie’ comics while most boys were ‘reading’ superman and batman and I got hooked on Spiderman, X-men and the Fantastic 4. Marvel in those days was more about angst and cute tricks -a bank manager named “Ben Dover”?- but, yeah, women in comic books looked like women in television commercials might if college nerds could have digitally ‘enhanced’ them and altered their clothing. }

‘Facebook drug task force’ hoax dupes thousands of stoners   { 100,000 people send messages on facebook to warn others about a rumored campaign to intercept messages with keywords that might indicate that somebody was setting up a drug sale on-line and get those messages to local police. }

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“Most Viewed”

Ukraine crisis: Russian aid convoy crosses border without Kyiv OK   {  }

Workers not to blame for Quebec pension problem: Don Pittis   {  }

Montague homicide victims, suspect not acquainted, say RCMP   { The victims were a father and his adult son. A suspect is charged with two counts of first degree murder. I’m not as confused about this one as some others, but, if the accused didn’t know the victims, how is that ‘pre-meditated’? Did he plot to kill people who drove the wrong colour of the wrong model car? Or something equally irritating to the alleged killer? }

Video of Rockliffe prowling person of interest released by police   { On Twitter – Somebody retweeted this photo with the caption “It’s Pierre Poutine”  – a reference to the guy recently convicted in the Conservative robocall scandal – I thought the photo was too blurry to be certain. }

Cliché alert: Grits ‘rolling up their sleeves’ for Canada   { ‘Grits’ is the nickname for the Liberal Party. This seems to me to be another headline written by somebody who doesn’t like Justin Trudeau or has an anti-Liberal bias. – unlike me- I have an anti-politician bias. The party in power has the biggest virtual target painted on their foreheads at the moment.  }

James Foley killing: Why ISIS beheaded the U.S. journalist   { In the article, a reported ex-C.I.A. analyst says ISIS believes the publicity will help their cause and attract many more supporters. The article also says there are amputations taking place and people being crucified in ISIS held territory. There is a mention of a ransom under a photo at the top of the article and the only ransom-like detail I read was -If the U.S. stops the airstrikes in Iraq, we’ll stop beheading U.S. journalists.- sounds like a win-win situation for both sides. ISIS gets to brag that they’re powerful enough to either kill U.S. citizens or blackmail the U.S. into stopping the bombing and the C.I.A. has a really nasty looking ‘enemy’ to protect U.S. citizens from- and has the opportunity to get rid of a couple pesky investigative journalists in the process. }

Iceland volcano: Bardarbunga shaken by 3 earthquakes   {  }

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“Other”

-Analysis- Canadian pension tension: Don’t blame the workers writes Don Pittis   { The link in the ‘Most Viewed’ hinted that it was Quebec’s problem and that headline didn’t have as creative liguistics. }

Fewer jobs for students in federal public service, think-tank says   { Okay, they won’t hire anybody so that ensures that they can point their fingers at the federal agencies and accuse them of not doing their jobs properly when major catastrophes take place, but if, for instance, Transport Canada wants to hire more and better qualified inspectors in order to properly do their job and they are told, ‘Hiring more people or more expensive people is not in the budget.’ – Who do you suppose should get the blame next time? }

Hiker in B.C. rescued days after fleeing bear in tree   { You have to sit through commercials before and after you get to see the real video. A twenty five year old hiker climbed a tree to escape a bear. The bear did not immediately leave. The hiker fell asleep and fell out of the tree, suffered a severe concussion and a back injury, and may have been in and out of consciousness for as many as 4 days while people were searching for him. A man walking his dog found the injured hiker, face down, on the ground and said the injured hiker was ‘aware, but not lucid,’ then added, ‘he was quite groggy’. An expert on bears says you should freeze and talk in a nice calm voice, climbing a tree is not a very good idea. If you speak nice and calm and friendly, bear will ‘probably’ become bored with you and walk away. }

Death toll of Syrian civil war nearly 190,000, UN says   {  }

‘Everything is on fire’: Lac-Mégantic train engineer’s calls from night of disaster released   {  }

Are wearable camera companies going to cash in after Ferguson?   { Probably not- if the people who are plotting to destroy the buying power of your currency have their way. The U.S. economy is scheduled to crash this autumn. People will starve to death and those who depend on electricity for home medical devices will be terminally out of luck. Link >>—-> Half Past Human Tweet >>—-> @clif_high  }

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

Fracking wastewater clean enough for Dieppe sewer, says company   { A Nova Scotia based company that wants to ship as much as 30 million litres of fracking wastewater to New Brunswick says the water is clean. ***But the process is not safe. It doesn’t matter how clean the water is that you want to use for fracking, the process of fracking destroys the purity of ground water and can lead to flammable gas coming into your home through your pipes with what you thought was clean, drinkable water. Haven’t you seen the video of flames shooting out of faucets in people’s kitchen sinks? Don’t let yourself be duped. & If you’re  determined to commit suicide and want to be fracked to death, please move a million miles away from any neighbors, and frack yourself. }

Photo of Poster emailed from Jim W.

Many voters say jobs and economy are top priority   { Party hacks for the sitting government might want you to believe that jobs and the economy are your most important issue, but this article starts out naming voters with other top priorities, a man in Moncton says health care is most important and believes a system modeled after a combination of the English and French medical systems should be implemented here. One woman from Beresford believes the environment is most her most important concern, ‘If the environment goes, we’re not here anymore.’ Another woman says government accountability is her most important issue and she would like to see more transparency. I saw photos of a Poster, “Jobs per million $ invested / You do the math”  *** Jim W sent me the poster photo. (above) }

4 parties launch election campaigns   { The ‘Progressive Conservatives‘ -*does anybody else seem to realize that ‘-looking or moving forward – while -looking or moving backward’ doesn’t make sense as a name for a political party that stands for anything but the status quo?- The PC party is ‘banking’ on voters being stupid enough to vote to hand their government over to those who want to Frack them to death. The Liberals -who currently enjoy a big lead in the polls we’ve seen- say they would support an oil exporting facility, the Energy East Pipeline, and Sisson Brook and other mining opportunities. The NDP -New Democratic Party- say that neither the PC nor Liberal Party can give ‘New Bunswickers’ the government they deserve because both front running parties are indebted to special interests -Big Business- The NDP wants to ‘create the best education system’ to help N.B.-ers get high paying jobs, and also wants to ‘fix the health care system’, ‘lift rural communities out of poverty’, ‘give an equal voice to all communities’ and ‘eliminate patronage from government’. The Green Party has criticized the Premier for saying he would not meet the Green Party Candidate in CBC televized debates, and said the party will release their platform on September 3rd. There is a mention of a fifth party down at the bottom of this article. The People’s Alliance, but no mention of the party’s ideals or philosophy was included here. On the People’s Alliance web site there are 4 press releases talking about their ideas that changing Motor Vehicle registration and cutting the requirement for vehicles to have front license plates will save taxpayers money. Their policies page is blank. }

Rothesay police used reasonable force in fatal shooting, RCMP say   {  }

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{ 1:06 pm ET : Proofreading and colorizing / 1:43 pm EDT = ready to Publish  ———djo——— }

{{{ Copied and pasted from “Radio Free Earth News” on Dottie Shrader’s Birthday 😉 —————jda }}}

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Thursday, 21 August, 2014  -( 77˚F / 25˚C & thunderstorming in Ithaca @ 12:50 pm ET )-

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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{ I’ve been really busy tracking down leads and ‘tweets’ about journalists being, at least, threatened by police and other officials. Sorry I’m later than usual with this. }

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The Lead Story has a photo of James Foley staring at me. a related story reports: “James Foley profile: A ‘committed and brave journalist’ Aug 20” { There  may be video with this. }

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“Lead Stories”

Ontario police say motorcycle deaths could hit 7-year high   {  }

New rules on mechanically tenderized beef take effect   { Because there may be an increased risk of bacteria resulting from this form of ‘tenderizing’ – the packaging must contain a warning that the beef must be properly cooked to a certain temperature that I couldn’t find while reading the article. }

RCMP investigate double homicide near Montaque , PEI   {  }

American doctor infected with Ebola recovers in Atlanta   {  }

Interpol says co-ordinated effort needed against ISIS   { A couple years ago, remote viewers told us the U.S. would become involved in a war with Syria. Maybe just ‘in’ Syria. I’d rather see a war against disinformation and government manipulation of the truth in order to manipulate the population. Remember- Governments killed more of their own people in the last century than all those horrific wars we went through- combined. }

Fighters traveling to conflict zones pose terror threat   { Buzz word = terror- Be careful- They’re trying to pull something over our eyes. }

U.S. says troops tried to rescue James Foley in Syria   { See above comment.  }

Hamas says 3 military leaders killed in Israeli airstrikes   {  }

U.S. AG tells Missouri he understands mistrust of police   { ‘AG’ = Attorney General }

Protests in Ferguson smaller with no tear gas fired   {  }

-Analysis- A ‘great training tool’ for police chiefs: How Ferguson botched crowd control   { Before Ian Punnet had to leave Coast to Coast am because of the ringing in his ears, he interviewed a retired police officer who believes that part of the problem with people seeing what they believe is inappropriate use of force by police officers- is that the officers have been trained to believe that they must ‘maintain control of the situation’. That advice sometimes leads to the officers going a bit too far. We need to rethink this. }

How Ottawa’s $24M ad campaign to sell Keystone in the U.S. fell flat   {  }

B.C. woman with dementia leaves final right-to-die plea   { I found out she died while I was reading another headline farther down the web site.  }

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“Offbeat”

Tooth fairy pays premium for teeth in Atlantic Canada   { This report estimates that kids in Atlantic Canada receive an average of $3.46 per tooth? Kids in Ontario receive an average of $2.80? }

Historic Thunder Bay buildings rendered in Lego   {  }

Killer whale tosses ‘sea lion’ 6 metres into the air   { There is a video. I have issues – #1- They’re Orcas- stop calling them ‘killer whales’. #2- I don’t want to see anything being tortured or killed. #3- If we showed video of beef cattle being slaughtered, do you think we’d all become vegetarians? }

Giant Rubber Duck sails into L.A. port   { Okay, now this one I’d probably like to see. }

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“Most Viewed”

Jacinda and Janika Hodder get mystery illness diagnosed in U.S.   { It took 20 years and $50,000.00 in donations for 2 sisters from Newfoundland to learn the diagnosis for a ‘brain disorder’ they’ve been suffering from all this time. Their disorder is called ‘Cerebellar Ataxia’ – ‘damage, degeneration, or loss of nerve cells in the cerebellum- the part of the brain that controls muscle co-ordination. They were hoping they’d find out it was something there might be a cure for. }

Liberals edge back from the brink under Justin Trudeau   { For the last couple days, I’ve been seeing headlines that seem to be aimed at undermining the electorate’s confidence in Justine Trudeau’s chances of being elected Prime Minister. Okay, Canadians do not elect a Prime Minister directly. They elect Members of Parliament, and the ‘Leader’ of the party with the most Members of Parliament gets to be Prime Minister. If no party has more than half the members elected to Parliament under its banner, The one with the most members elected will still get to ‘form the government’ and their ‘Leader’ is then the Prime Minister, they call this a ‘minority government’. Under a minority government a lot of compromises have to be made, and if a ‘confidence vote’ is called for and the minority government does not win that vote- it will be time to have a new federal election.  To say that Liberals were almost at the ‘brink’ -you’d have to forget that in the 1993 election the ‘Progressive Conservative’ only party ‘won’ only 2 seats. }

Iceland volcano: Bardarbunga volcano remains poised to erupt   { Last night on teevee news somebody said that there have been earthquakes related to the volcano, but no lava was seen as coming near the surface, yet. }

{ The rest of the reports here are repeats from “Lead Stories” above. }

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“Other”

-Analysis- Justin Trudeau fulfilling Liberal hopes ahead of 2015 election  { Okay- I don’t see any ‘loaded’ words in this headline. -I am not a Liberal- I am not a Conservative -I am an independent (small i) Nobody floats my boat. I used to have a bumper sticker, “Don’t Vote – It only encourages them.” My boss made me get rid of it because he was afraid somebody might see me get out of my car in uniform and associate the uniform with the bumper sticker. I would really like to see a politician appear from anywhere that I could believe in. Maybe not in this life. The Conservative party of Canada has already run commercials featuring unflattering photos and video of Justin Trudeau. They are trying to portray him as an irresponsible youngster who couldn’t be trusted to head a government. I thought these commercials were remarkably mean spirited. But, apparently-  the Conservative Party of Canada is still afraid that Justin might be popular enough to unseat them. The people I trust to look ahead have told me they’re confident the Canadian electorate will see through the Conservative Party, will see the ‘Leaders’ of this party for what they are and hand them their walking papers. I don’t know- but for now, I can only hope that the campaign, and the pre- campaign shenanigans, do not paint either party as junior high school bullies who never grew up, pointing their finger at their opponents and making faces and sticking their tongues out and acting like barely pubescent boys (and girls?) I mean, jeeze- acting like a twelve year old while accusing your opponent of not being mature enough to take your job away from you is just plain silly. }

Transport Canada’s lax safety practices go beyond rail   { Transport Canada is the victim of the current government’s attempt to make it impossible for Transport Canada to enforce its regulations because the current government is in bed with big business and wants to take all oversight away- period. They want to convince us that Big Business will be able to ‘police themselves’ better than any government regulatory body. We saw how well that worked last year in Lac-Mégantic. And then, at the press conference, yesterday, they tried to make it look like Transport Canada was at least as guilty as the MM&R railroad. If the government won’t allow Transport Canada the funds it would need to hire enough qualified inspectors, how in hell could they expect TC to do their job effectively? It’s the conservative agenda: un-fund programs, then tell the world those programs aren’t working, try to disband those agencies that protect the population from unscrupulous corporations and other businesses- and then what? Hide in your bunker while the world falls apart? -Hold the bloody government responsible. They’re lying to you. Investigate what they’re really up to and do not believe their argument that they can’t tell you the truth because national security is at stake. Their security is at stake. If you knew what your government is up to, you’d go nuts and try to rip their heads from their shoulders (without any form of pain killers being offered them). Oops, somebody help me down from this soap box?  }

5 Ukrainian troops, 2 civilians killed as fierce battles reported   {  }

-New- Have Alward’s Torries been ‘proven through fire’? N.B. voters will decide Sept. 22   { Alward’s Conservative government is banking on the belief that they can convince a lot of people that ‘Fracking means jobs for you’ and ‘We should let Big Business cut down any tree they want to, because they have our best interest at heart’ and ‘You really don’t want to protect the water you drink from being poisoned, because we need to ‘Frack’ for jobs, and let mining waste ooze into your drinking, cleaning and recreation waters because those nice people who are fleecing you of your natural resources shouldn’t have to be careful about the toxic sludge they leave behind in their quest to frack you where it hurts’- -Anybody remember the newest incarnation of ‘Battlestar Gallactica’? remember what they meant when they used the word ‘Frack’? -Don’t bend over in front of a mother fracker- I saw video that Jim W took in which a First Nations elder said that the elemental beings -like leprachauns- that we’ve been sharing this planet with allalong started the fires that burned several old police vehicles while the police were arresting protesters at anti-fracking roadblocks last year. -I saw the vehicles and was ready to believe that the police set their own aging vehicles on fire to both get new vehicles and make the protesters look bad. I wasn’t there, I didn’t see who did or did not set any fires. Jim did nothing with his video because one of the First Nations people in the background looked up and said he did not want to be in any video. Fracking is dangerous to your health. It really looks like fracking is part of a plot to destroy your ability to live anywhere that has been fracked. Somebody has an agenda.  }

‘This country is capable of change,’ U.S. Attorney General says in Ferguson   { Can I quote a folk rocker? “Nothing is quite as sure as change-‘ John Phillips, -of the Mamas & Papas }

Neanderthals, humans may have coexisted for thousands of years   { Maybe we interbred to the point where we’ve become one race? Maybe they’re hiding somewhere, waiting for the humans to self-destruct? }

Air Canada accused of discriminating against Muslim man   {  }

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

New Brunswick election: Voters challenged to choose on resources, jobs   { They want you to choose between having safe drinking water, clean water to swim in and wash yourself and your clothes in — and allowing big energy companies to frack for natural gas, ruin your environment to make a couple fat cats richer than they already are? Do Not Believe that fracking will do anything but make your life more miserable. }

Government cancels First Nation tax and gaming deals    { Brilliant- Looks like the current N.B. government doesn’t believe they need the votes of any First Nations People. }

McCains Pizza sale leaves Grand Falls wondering about jobs   { ‘McCain sold their pizza plant to Dr Oetker- the new owners say they will keep all the current employees, operate under the McCain name for two years and then switch to the ‘Dr Oetker’ name on their packaging’  –  Jim W -in his email message asking if I was sick and needed him to do this today. }

Blogger feud continues with Fredericton City Hall   {Chris MacPherson, Fredericton’s chief administration officer, asked Google to shut down a blog because thate blog contained ‘inaccurate and hurtful content about Fredericton police.’ Charles LeBlanc, the blogger, says he never accused the Fredericton police of being pedophiles, merely asked a question and said, ‘somebody is’. & “I’m just shooting back what they did to me. They’re the one that started this, not me.” He said that if he had received an apology from the police department he would have removed the posts that upset the police and the local government. – In 2012, officers seized computer equipment from Charles LeBlanc’s home. An independent review later found that police misused a request form for that raid, used a form reserved for child exploitation offenses. No charges were ever laid against Charles LeBlanc. }

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{ Ack! This isn’t supposed to take me all day- it’s 3:45 pm, I had to get up and answer the phone several times, get my night-time ‘day job’ stuff done and here we are-  double ‘Ack’ I finished checking for typos and colorizing the headlines and now it’s 4:24 pm.  ———djo——— }

{{{ Copied and Pasted by Jim d’Aerendel }}}

Wednesday, 20 August, 2014  -(68˚F / 20˚C & Hazy/overcast in Ithaca @ 8:30 am ET )-

-( Happy Birthday to Jim W’s nephew Sam in Alaska -I get updates from an old yahoogroups list-  )-

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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“Michael Brown Riot Police Aug 17”

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“Lead Stories”

-Analysis- Is Michael Brown’s shooting really about race?: Keith Boag   { Well, judging from the evening news and everything in the “Main Stream Media”- If it wasn’t about race, it is now. }

47 arrested in Ferguson, Mo.,  but protests more subdued   { Another link to this story said, ‘no tear gas employed protests more subdued’. }

Obama to speak about alleged beheading of a U.S. journalist   { There are too many links to the video of this alleged beheading. I can’t watch it. My PTSD will flare up, probably off the charts. }

PM Harper leaves today for his 9th annual northern tour   { Trying to look like a viable choice to continue as Prime Minister?  He wants to show everybody that he’s big on Agriculture and Arctic sovereignty. I bet that doesn’t mean he believes the First Nations people up there are sovereign citizens of that region. He’s probably trying to say the ‘Crown’ owns the north pole. }

26 children died under care of N.L. government since 2009   { ‘N.L.’ = Newfoundland and Labrador, not ‘National League’. }

Over 1,000 gather in Winnipeg to honour 2 dead in river   { 🙁 }

-Analysis- Never mind the West, can Justin Trudeau crack Fortress Quebec?   { Does this sound to anybody, besides myself, like the headline writer is trying to cast doubts about Justin Trudeau’s ability to win the Prime Minister’s job in the Canadian Federal Elections next year? }

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“Offbeat”

“Tiny house on wheels”

Couple builds tiny house on wheels   { A couple is building their tiny dream house on wheels on the back of a flatbed truck in Guelph, Ontario. – See photo that should be above this- They spent eight months traveling around Canada and the U.S.A. with an even smaller trailer hitched to the back of fairly small car.  }

{ The above story is the only new one under “offbeat” on the CBC news web page. I imagine that anyone reading this from the Point of View of having lived in a much ‘saner’ society in a much less violent and anxiety riddled time would thing that all the stuff on this page is ‘offbeat’. }

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“Most Viewed”

Brad Parker, avid climber, dies shortly after Yosemite marriage proposal   { 🙁 }

Pam Owen, beaten mental health worker, doesn’t blame attacker   {  }

MaraNatha, Trader Joe’s nut butters recalled over Salmonella risk   { Funny, this is the first time I had to type Salmonella anywhere- Maybe I led a sheltered life? Or just never typed as much news as I have in the last couple months- }

Iceland volcano: area north of Bardarbunga evacuated   { I hope Iceland doesn’t lose all their ice before Game Of Thrones finishes production- guess my priorities have been severely warped – sigh- }

Tom Hanks creates ‘Hanx Writer’ typewriter simulator for iPad   { But I guess I’m not the most severely warped creative individual on the planet. And, neither is Tom Hanks. }

Toronto Zoo investigates after visitors get too close to pandas   {  }

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“Other”

-Updated- Gaza conflict resumes with Palestinian rocket fire, Israeli airstrikes   {  }

Officials urge world to back Iraqi fight against ‘savage’ ISIS   { Those ‘officials’ are Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari. I say, “Why can’t we knock these guys out with laughing gas, strip them naked and drop them in the middle of a tropical island somewhere where they’d have to spend all their time trying to survive against monster mosquitos and monkeys throwing coconuts at them? OH- and no cell phones or cell phone service, no internet- surrounded by starving Great White sharks- I mean, why do we put up with this doo-doo when we know it’s nonsense that could very easily have been dealt with long ago? If human beings were just a little bit nicer to each other we wouldn’t have these problems. What would we do with crazies who want to hurt people anyway? -or steal everything anybody else cares about? Feed them GMO lethargy-inducing crap and strap them into oversized recliners and force them to watch endless re-runs of Green Acres, The Brady Bunchh Leave it to Beaver and Gilligan’s Island etc, until their brains explode? Isn’t that what they’re doing to us? }

Why elephant poaching is still rampant   { Um, because greedy people don’t share their God-given abundance with impoverished ‘minorities’, which they believe are below them? It’s not just the poachers who are guilty here, it’s anybody who could have helped everybody on the planet learn how to achieve a life they could believe in. It takes more than a village- It takes every one alive to recognize the sovereignty of every other person here and make sure they have the basic human needs of food and shelter, and a pat on the back to raise their self esteem wouldn’t hurt either. }

Justin Trudeau gets RCMP security at rally following break-in   { I overheard someone say that, “Party thugs do this sort of thing all the time [try to terrorize their opponents and their opponents’ families]  -Especially when there’s an election on the horizon.” }

Toronto carjacking victim needs 14 staples to close gash after pistol-whipping   { }

Shark finning banned in New Zealand   { It was already illegal there to remove the fins from live sharks, New Zealand passed a law to make it illegal to cut the fins off dead sharks and dump the carcasses at sea. }

Which 3 Canadian cities are on The Economist’s top 10 world ‘livability’ list?   {  Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary are on The Economist’s top 10 livability list. It isn’t perfectly clear, but one of those cities is tied with Adelaide, Australia. I’m not sure what the criteria are here. We listen to Coast to Coast am and hear that “Police had nothing to do after an earthquake knocked out a lot of utilities and phone service- but sit back and wait-” in New Zealand, where the people were so civilized, and cared so much about each other- that looting and other criminal activities in a time of ‘chaos’ were not a problem. }

St. Louis police kill knife-wielding suspect near Ferguson   {  }

-Video- Trivago guy to get makeover   { Trivago – is the travel metasearch engine that focuses on hotels. It launched in Dusseldorf, Germany in 2005- spread to Spain, France and the U.K. in 2007- and spread to the U.S., China, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico in 2009. In 2012 Expedia bought a majority stake in trivago for about $630 million U.S. bucks. Too many television ad watchers complained that current commercials feature a guy who hasn’t shaved in a week and looks ‘unhealthy’. I think the video I saw showed the same commercial with the guy digitally altered to look clean shaven. }

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

Liberals pledge to cut $250M in government spending   { If they want my approval, they’d have to pledge to end the governmental shell game and allow Walter Burien of CAFR1.com to audit their books and reveal his results in every media outlet in the world. }

Lac-Mégantic report lacking: Saint John region officials   { Saint John is in New Brunswick. Saint John’s is in Newfoundland. The official  report by the Transport Safety Board was big news and had its video sound bites played on most networks’ news last night. They blamed both the Railroad (MM&A) and Transport Canada (Sort of theCanadian version of the ICC which used to also include the Canadian version of the FAA) for its lack of oversight. My take is that Conservative Governments have been trying to ‘de-fang’ Transport Canada since the days when Mulrouney was their Prime Minister. Their ‘strategy’ is to make it impossible for regulatory bureaus to enforce their regulations so they can crucify them in public and claim they never worked anyway. The philosophy behind this ‘strategy’ is to allow industry to police itself, which, clearly, doesn’t work- never did work and never will work. The definition of ‘Fascism’ is ‘Government in bed with big business’ / Governments taking orders from big business / governments letting big business convince them not to tax them, but to raise taxes on the ‘common citizens’.

Conservationists slam province over watershed inaction   { Conservatives, not conservationists, are in power in New Brunswick. Their Minister of the Environment has not allowed any of the studies done by 19 groups, which were submitted for classification to go through and be accepted as ‘Baseline’ studies. Without the baseline studies, any amount of pollution from toxic fracking water or toxic sludge from mining operations could not be verified and companies doing the polluting/poisoning could be traced back to the polluters. Yesterday, the Provincial ombudsman called the current regulations  a sham and compared those regulations as something demanding that all homes have a type of smoke detector for which no one makes the proper batteries. <— I reworded that. If it’s confusing, blame me. }

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{ 10:53 am Ithaca time. Typing finished, ready to check for typos and add the colours. Ready to rock and roll @ 11:24 am Ithaca, Finger Lakes, New York State, U.S.A. time   ———djo———}

Monday, 18 August, 2014.  -( 61°F / 16°C & cloudy @ 9:30 am near Ithaca, NY, USA )-

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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“Lead Stories”

Missouri governor sends National Guard to Ferguson to restore order   {   }

Julian Assange says health has suffered while in London embassy   { How about all the good people in this world pray for a healing for this guy? —> This is how it seems to me: He stuck his neck out, thinking he was doing something morally right and the C.I.A., NSA and other alphabet soup ice-holes saw to it that he was framed for an immoral act ? }

WikiLeaks founder says he’ll leave embassy in London soon   {  }

TSB says Grand Manan, N.B. air ambulance crash a mystery   { Grand Manan is an Island off the southern coast of New Brunswick }

This was the scene last year when the ‘deadly derailment’ at Lac-Megantic killed 47 people, many of them in a pub enjoying the July evening.

Regulatory gaps partly to blame for Lac-Mégantic: CCPA   { ‘CCPA = Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which is a group that is calling for an independent public inquiry into the accident that killed 47 people in the centre of town when the train derailed and burst into flames. The CCPA doesn’t believe the Transportation Safetry Board will go far enough to expose government regulatory failures. }

Intruder’s note left atop 5 or 6 knives at Trudeau home   {  Now that’s creepy. I should put a poll in here: How many people think this is political dirty tricks? }

Private autopsy finds Michael Brown shot 6 times: NYT   { NYT, I suppose that means New York Times, not the Monty Python Knights who go “Nyt!” [wink] }

Dying Sierra Leone doctor never told Ebola drug was at his bedside   {  }

Analysis- Harper’s latest northern tour: Is government’s approach to ‘the great treasure house’ failing?   { Harper’s trying to win votes without appearing to campaign for them? I bet that’s not what he meant when he said something about ‘transparency in government’. }

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“Offbeat”

Montreal resident a magnet for Russian mail   {  }

Nobody’s claiming this might be a crop circle that was put there by aliens.

Derek Jeter’s head profiled in New Jersey corn maze   { Somebody went to a lot of trouble to do this.  }

Messy summer festivals in Japan   { Rain and floods messed up the area. }

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“Most Viewed”

Rolf Buchholz, man with horn implants and 400 piercings, denied entry to Dubai   {  }

Drone video shows stubborness, severity of Goodridge Street fire   { Goodridge Street is in Saint John’s, Newfoundland. They have a video of a ‘Snorkle’ type fire engine at work trying to put the fire out. }

Second Union Station subway platform opens today    {  }

{ Everything else in this category relisted from “Lead Stories” }

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“Other”

Analysis – Year of record recalls: how concerned should car drivers be?   {  }

Updated –  Iraq forces say they’ve retaken Mosul Dam, but militants deny claim   {  }

5-day Gaza ceasefire ends tonight between Israelis and Palestinians   {  }

Quarantine creates ‘plaque villages’ in Ebola epicentre   {  }

Ukraine claims rebels fire on civilian convoy   {  }

OPP did not have ‘leading role’ in CBSA immigration arrests   { ‘OPP’ = Ontario Provincial Police. }

Video – 911 call service often includes access to interpreters   {  }

180 dead as floods wash away homes in Nepal, India   {  }

– Blog – Teacher’s online campaign raises $40K to feed hungry kids in Ferguson   {  }

This is ‘HitchBot’s face.

HitchBot completes 6,000 kn cross-Canada trip   {  }

Indian pangolins -From India- this is one of the species that are being killed or smuggled out of India.

Indian poachers threaten lesser-known animals   {  }

{ &  Somewhere: I saw a blurb about a 6.2 earthquake in southern Iran }

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

Grand Manan mayor says plane crash victims will be missed   { Grand Manan is an island off the southern coast of New Brunswick }

Grand Manan plane crash site offers few clues about cause   {  }

Anglophone East district standardizes school supply list   { ‘Anglophone’ means ‘English speaking’. Parents of students receiving standardized list of items teachers expect students to show up with voice mixed opinions on this matter. }

14 year old Nova Scotia woman in Northumberland Strait charity swim: Youngest ever   {  }

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{ Posted at 11:30 am EDST   ———djo———  }

Sunday, 17 August, 2014.  -( 66°F / 19°C & cloudy @ 11:30 am near Ithaca, NY, USA )-

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

==============

“Lead Stories”

7 protesters arrested for breaking Ferguson Curfew   {  }

Head of Atlantic Charters ID’d as pilot killed in NB crash  { Klaus Sonnenberg was in an air ambulance that crashed very close to the end of a runway on Grand Manan Island off the coast of the southern New Brunswick mainland. }

Marc Emery, ‘Prince of Pot’, returns to Vancouver   {  }

Fears of new infections as Ebola clinic looted in Liberia  {  }

Ukraine says rebels shoot down fighter jet over Luhansk  { It’s a Sunday, I wrote that exactly as I saw it. Another link to the same story is more easily understood }

Justin Trudeau’s aboriginal candidate caught in crossfire   { The National Chief for for the Assembly of First Nations, Ghislain Picard, said in a letter that it’s up to the Assembly of First Nations whether they to keep Jody Wilson-Raybould on their payroll while she campaigns for the Liberal Party. }

Scotland’s pro- and anti-independence camps weigh the lessons of Quebec   {  }

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“Offbeat”

Justin Bieber pays for monkey business   { He paid a $10K fine for trying to bring his monkey into Germany }

English Premier League season begins, chaos ensues   { This is soccer, a fan invaded the playing field at one ‘match’, disrupting a free kick. If you have no idea what I just said, you’re probably ‘USAtian’ and you’re not alone. }

-and a couple repeat stories from yesterday were here-

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“Most viewed”

Canada’s doctor’s decline to join anti-marijuana campaign   {  }

Amish girls sexually abused in N.Y. abduction : prosecutor   { A link on the side under “More Headlines” inserted the word ‘allegedly’ ahead of ‘sexually’.  }

Michael Brown shooting: Police deploy tear gas to impose curfew   {  }

Gunshots fired on McCarthy Road in south Ottawa   {  }

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“Other”

Liberian slum residents go on shooting spree at Ebola clinic   {  }

Kurdish forces retake parts of Iraq’s largest dam   {  }

Mount Polley mine: sediment near spill may harm fish   { This is an on-going story about the collapse of a levee around a huge tailings pond.  }

Diver’s ‘Very Significant’ find leads to charges in Alberta family slaying   { This is the case in which a 38-year old has been charged with killing his parents and sister. He says he had nothing to do with it and his sister is still missing. }

Montreal pride parade revellers ready to show their true colours  { * I had to check, yes it is a ‘Gay Pride’ event, not a ‘Montreal Pride’ city-praising event. }

Orange is the new black actress nabs Emmy award   { I bet she won the award, & did not perform a snatch and run robbery in front of zillions of people. }

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

Swimmers Crossing Northumberland Strait for Brigadoon   {  }

N.B. fracking protest raised fears of copycat rallies   { Federal officials paid close attention to an RCMP raid on First Nations protest against shale-gas exploration in New Brunswick, “at one point raising concerns it could spawn another wountrywide movement like ‘Idle No More'” }

Pre-shale gas water quality to be studied   { This may not be as positive a development as it sounds- A team from the Canada Rivers Institue at the University of New Brunswick are set to study water conditions in areas where shale gas development is ‘likely to take place’. }

Cybercriminals capitalize on oversharing on social media   {  }

Moncton offers free FIFA transportation after complaints   {  }

Port Saint John gets ‘smart’ weather bouy   { *And Last night on Coast to Coast am, John Gray of ‘Men are from Mars-” fame reported that ‘Smart Meters’ are constantly sending microwave signals back and forth to and from Electric Utilities, -and can receive instructions to throttle down or cut off electricity to any ‘smart appliances’ or cut off power to the whole house, -a practice that killed elderly house bound citizens in Texas cities when a power company remotely turned off air conditioners during a heat wave- He said that more and more people are developing problems, like an inability to sleep and hyper sensitivity to the Electro Magnetic Field Emissions because of these devices. “Smart” = “Not good” when referring to meters, appliances, and too many other technological ‘advances’ }

Arson suspected in fire at Fredericton home   {  }

==============

{ It’s a Sunday – Fewer stories than usual, and it only took me1 hour instead of 4 or 5. I had a second, older computer beside me with the CBC pages displayed in an “OmniWeb” browser.  I didn’t know there was such a browser until Jim sent me a link when I complained about the dearth of browser availabilty with features I liked. – 12:39 pm EDT    ———djo——— }

Saturday, 16 August, 2014.  -( 49°F / 9°C & clear @ 7:30 am near Ithaca, NY, USA )-

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

==============

“Lead Stories”

Obama’s ‘cautious’ response to Michael Brown death, Ferguson under scrutiny   {  }

Texas Governor Rick Perry indicted for abuse of power   { The governor tried to bully a prosecutor into quitting. }

Protestors storm store police say Michael Brown robbed   { I heard one person in a news clip say that a person in a video of someone stealing cigars and intimidating the store clerk before walking out with a handful of stolen cigars never was proven to be Michael Brown. }

Alberta man charged in deaths of parents, sister   {  }

‘Exclusive’- CBSA immigration arrests during spot checks stir controversy   { CBSA = Canada Border Services Agency. One person who wasn’t happy about police doing a ‘spot check’ demanding identity papers from ‘suspicious looking’ -minority- people and arresting suspected illegally working ‘foreigners’ worried that if the police get away with this they might escalate and demand ever more intrusive documentation from random people in random spots, ‘just because they can’. A First Nations young woman claims she’s been stopped and interrogated under suspicion that she might be a prostitute because she was walking alone while looking like a First Nations woman. “What are they going to do? Arrest unemployed women or demand proof of employment before they’ll allow anyone to walk anywhere because they think she just might be a prostitute and didn’t offer them freebies?” }

-New- Couple charged with kidnapping Amish sisters intended harm: police  { A couple in northern New York were arrested and charged with intending to physically harm or sexually abuse two Amish sisters after abducting them from a roadside farm stand (7:11 am EDT) }

‘Updated – Airstrikes on militants at Iraq dam after ISIS ‘massacre’ kills 80   { I heard that Yazidis said that ISIS killed more like 100 and kidnapped women and children, haven’t confirmed that yet. }

=====

“Offbeat”

Steve McQueen Ferrari auctioned off by Ontario’s RM Auctions   {  }

Sea otter caught on camera in rare sighting in B.C.’s Georgia Strait   {  }

Son surprises mom with dream car, the internet approves   {  }

Downtown Abbey’s anachronistic water bottle becomes internet sensation   {  }

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“Most Viewed”

Internet outages, slowness spike expected with ‘512K’   {   ‘512,000 internet destinations’ = a milestone- Here- in their words, “When the number of destinations on the internet surpasses 512,000, users will experience overall internet slowness if they rely on an internet service provider that uses older, affected routers.”  An alternate headline points to the same story:  “Internet outages spike as network gets too big for some routers” *Sounds like somebody’s trying to open the argument that internet providers should be allowed to fleece their customers or throttle their services down to a crawl on anyone who can’t afford top dollar for services that are not driving any providers to the poor house  }

Newfoundland’s Stephanie Branton is Playboy’s Miss September   { -Um- When a well respected news service publishes a story like this I wonder if they’re either remarkably open minded and believe that we should all celebrate a good looking young woman posing naked for Playboy Magazine, or was this a really slow news day in Newfoundland? }

New- Lac-Mégantic report to be retiring TSB chair’s final act   { Lac-Mégantic was the site of the horrendous explosion and fire when a rail road train, left unattended -due to laws regarding the length of time engineers could work without rest (and the railroad not willing to pay a second shift to ride along, rested, and take over when the first shift needed a break-) had its brakes fail and rolled down hill into a small town where it exploded and burned and killed 47 people last year. }

Girl Power: Vancouver, U.S. girls representing at Little League World Series   {  }

Alien probe: Report details 25 years of UFO sightings in Canada   { Quick, somebody call the crew at Coast to Coast am, does this look like a major media outlet is admitting that there might be ET’s flying around, waiting for an invitation to land and say hello? }

CP Rail ‘Bullying’ Vancouver by ripping up community gardens, mayor says   { *Yup, I think I called it bullying, yesterday.* }

‘Totally irresponsible’ of Canada Post to request doctor’s note for home delivery: CMA   {  CMA = Canadian Medical Association. They’re claiming that sending old and infirm citizens to doctors’ offices for notes to excuse them from walking past the mail boxes they’ve been getting their mail at all their lives in favor of cluster boxes like the ones in the photo – that may be at the end of a long road -or who knows how far away- will expose those aged and infirm, medically compromised people, to needless expense and probably expose them to  contagious germs from sick people in those doctors’ waiting rooms.    *My opinion coming up*: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to be everything that G.W. Bush tried to be. Harper’s a Conservative who wants to un-fund everything and funnel all government money into his and other corrupt/greedy pockets. I’ve said way too often here that federal, state, (provincial) & local governments have been lying since the 1940’s about where their money comes from, how much of it they have and where it goes. More than two thirds of local, state/provincial, and federal governments’ money comes in through ‘other than tax monies’- But they keep on claiming that the only money they get is through taxes. Go read through CAFR1.com  <— Link. “Government’s True Wealth Exposed”   They could stop collecting taxes now and provide more and better services than they do. “Austerity Programs” are pure and utter B.S. I can’t wait to see what happens when we hit that magic level when enough people cry out to force the puppets we’ve ‘elected’ to office to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  }

=====

“Other”

Goldfish dumped by B.C. pet owners become invasive species   { Oh no- I can see it now, “Invasion of the Gold Fish From Hell” rated PG, soon to be at a theatre near you. }

Ebola and the economics of fear: Don Pittis   { *So, whattaya think? Do you suppose there are vapid stories about Ebola every night on t.v. ,and everywhere else, because big Pharma is making money on something here? Or maybe planning on making big money on some magic new cure that people don’t need, but might be able to be frightened into believing they just might need?}

TFSA penalties, StatsCan’s big mstake, and Jibo’s debut: BUSINESS WEEK WRAP   { TFSA = Tax Free Savings Account. People get penalized when they withdraw money from one of those before retiring. Statistics Canada reported that only 200 new jobs were added to the economy last July, then withdrew that number and came back saying there were actually 42,000 new jobs – most of them part time- And I don’t think we should trust these numbers anyway, Nobody’s given out real unemployment numbers in as long as I can remember- it’s b.s. again. If they say 7% unemployment- the real numbers are probably more like 24% because they don’t count people who have given up or can’t collect unemployment comp because they’ve been unemployed too long. }

Toronto-based Figure-1 wants ‘Instagram for doctors’ to go global   { Figure -1 is a Social photo sharing app that doctors, medical students, and other medical professionals use to share photos and x-rays etc. whether to get second opinions or help with diagnoses-  }

Oilsands investments at risk from low crude prices, report finds   { Oilsands investments are at risk because Oil companies are dishonest manipulative ice-holes who have squashed and buried any competing technological advances that could show people that we don’t need their stinkin fuel. And they are totally devastating the ‘oilsands’ region and killing the whole eco-system out there. }

Watch a swarm of 1,024 robots move together to form shapes    { They’ve taught nanobots to swarm, betcha this comes back to bite them. }

Warcraft to memorialize Robin Williams in game   {  }

HBO’s Game of Thrones comes to Vancouver   { This is the last stop on the Exhibits’ World Tour- it ends on or before September 1st. You too can sit on the iron throne- or gawk at dresses worn by characters in what is becoming my favorite television experience in the last couple years-  Can’t wait for the return of “Heroes” with a reportedly whole new cast of characters- Next year? If we survive this one? }

Dartmouth art gallery celebrates The Simpsons   { This Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  }

Amazon ‘stomping on its own feet’ in Disney, Hachette e-commerce spats   { More like shooting themselves in the foot? Yes, Stephen King and 900 other authors are angry with Amazon’s heavy handed dealings with publishers to force prices down so they can undersell other ‘outlets’. Should I put up a “Boycott Amazon” button? }

The Beatles’ landmark White Album turned into art installation    {  }

Bird flu virus scientist stayed mum for a month on accident, CDC probe finds   {  }

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

More Power outages on the way, says NB Power   { Jesse Ventura lives ‘off the grid’ in Mexico. He told us in an interview last week or the week before that he had no outages at all, no down time with his off the grid system, then had to come to Minnesota for some legal issues and suffered several outages in his ‘high end’ neighborhood while there. This smells like a conspiracy, doesn’t it?  }

First Nation chiefs ask court to block forestry agreements   { The Conservative Premier of New Brunswick is spouting ‘we need the jobs’ and that line of b.s. and signing over rights to big corporations to cut down previously protected areas of ‘Crown’ forests. Lackeys say they replant, opponents say they have killed off the diversity and important wild life species never come back. }

NB Liquor reverses new microbrewery rules   {  }

Windsor Energy lawsuit against N.B. government linked to election   { The president of Calgary based Windsor Energy said that the timing of this $105 Million lawsuit was absolutely political to get even with a Member of the Legislature’s claim that Windsor Energy violated the law when it did seismic testing in 2011 in New Brunswick. Windsor Energy wants to point the finger at politicians and scream “They’re incompetent!” * I saw no mention of Frakking in this story, but the more I hear about frakking the more dangerous I believe that practice is, and if CEOs of Energy companies are going to use heavy handed tactics to try to blackmail governments into allowing them to FRAK at will, I think we need to take these energy companies down, with extreme prejudice. (my opinion)  }

“Latest Newfoundland & Labrador News Headlines”

My Guitar: Chris Kirby’s connection to the blues   {  }

Gone Again looks at women and the culture of working away   {  }

Lewis Kearney overwhelmed by food donations from ‘angels on earth’   {  }

Labrador family struggles, as brother awaits permanent housing   {  }

==============

{  Ack! it’s 10:42 am- I was distracted several times, but this is taking a lot more time than it used to- Is the news that much more interesting? Am I becoming more diligent? Is my mind turning to mush and my brain evaporating out through me ears? Tune in tomorrow, folks, and see if there’s a notice here that men in white coats came and carried me away in a straight jacket- or something equally boring- ———djo——— }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

==============

“Lead Stories”

How a police tactical shift can calm tensions after Missouri protests   { There’s a photo of an African-American police officer in a uniform with captain’s bars on his shoulder hugging an African-American woman and a caption that says experts in police and race relations are outlining ways new police tactics can calm tensions- }

Iraq’s al-Maliki goves up PM post to Halder al-Abadi  {   }

Ebola outbreak ‘vastly underestimated’ in West Africa: WHO  { I’m beginning to smell something weird in the way we keep getting battered with Ebola stories and then stuff that sounds like it was made up by a propaganda team to try to scare you all to death here. }

Missouri state troopers taking over security in Ferguson   { One of my favourite personalities on Coast to Coast am, who has moved on to try to make it on his own, -John B Wells- brought up this point quite often: Remember when the police were there to ‘preserve and protect’? What happened? Now they show up looking very much lie storm troopers, or an invading army- in black or camouflaged uniforms, wearing armor and carrying very large guns, }

Robin Williams in early stages of Parkinson’s Disease when he died   { Up until I heard this announcement, I thought there was a movement afoot, with people all around the country -and probably both countries here- U.S. & Canada- being sensitized to the point where they were wondering what could be done to make life less stressful and less horrifying to people we might never suspect are having a hard time of it. I mean Robin Williams, in our younger days, I would have thought of him as a best friend, somebody I would hope would show up at a party I couldn’t get out of attending- Seeing him age and not noticing the same in myself, I thought he would have been a really cool neighbor to have while growing up- An awful lot of people lately are finding their lives unbearable and ‘doing themselves in’ -We all lose when anybody does that- it’s a knife in all of our hearts at once. Especially this guy- So now they come out and say he had a degenerative, incurable disease, and I get the feeling that too many people will dismiss this as, an occasion to go, ‘okay, we don’t heave to be sensitive to the needs of our war Veterans and other people whose depressions might be exasperated by the insane pressures we live under in this country- This is a case of his number was up anyway and he didn’t want to stick around and suffer through the worst that he knew was coming’- No! Do not turn your backs on people you know are vulnerable. We need to ‘upgrade’ our culture with a whole lot of compassion and empathy here- you can quote me on that-  -djo- }

Amazon’s aggressive tactics put off authors, publishers   { Last week the first volley in this battle was heard. Stephen King and 900 other authors signed a letter saying ‘shame on Amazon!’ Time for a boycott? Support your local mom and pop bookstores, if there are any left. }

Canada’s military expected to anticipate war in post-9/11 world, retiring general says   { Lieutenant General Stuart Beare said, “The world could use some diplomacy-” and “No one wants to get into an unnecessary and avoidable fight.” -with so many regional conflicts looking like they’re heading toward armed conflict and the pace shows no sign of slowing- I hope we’re not losing a voice of sanity within the military. Do we have any U.S. officers saying things like that? -Probably not in public.  }

Pilot’s prosthetic arm detaches during rocky landing in U.K.   {  }

=====

“Offbeat”

Alaskan mom, son find wooly mammoth tusks 22 years apart   { -Talking to one of the Jims who covered for me the last couple days, he told me he heard the news this morning and because he has relatives in Alaska, he paid attention to this one. The son found his tusk in almost the same spot his mother found hers 22 years earlier. He also mentioned that a doctor he had the occasion to talk with while he was visiting his relatives up there told him that every once in a while lately something that’s been frozen for 3,000 year would thaw out and release bacteria that cause diseases that we have no record of and might not be able to cure or contain very easily. “That’s where our frontiers of medicine lie-”   }

Historic church moved for highway   { – Jim again, lived in a town where a road went up through a more sparsely populated part of town and circled around a small church- after several slightly inebriated drivers tried to make that the area’s first drive through church, they moved the church and straightened the road there. }

Skunk with head stuck in jar rescued by B.C. woman   { Now this has to be one brave lady. Last week’s cat with a bird feeder on its head was bad enough. Somebody should award her some kind of accolade. }

Humpback whale’s hour-long visit with B.C. boat caught on Camera   { -it’s totally irrelevant, but I always did like dolphins and whales. }

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“Most Viewed”

Community gardens ripped up up along Arbutus corridor   { A Canadian Pacific Rail police officer is shown in a series of photos ‘directing’ local residents to get off Railroad property near Vancouver, B.C. where the locals had nurtured community gardens for years along a ‘disused’ section of railroad tracks there. “No Trespassing”  signs went up Wednesday and Railroad workers showed up yesterday and began tearing down buildings and digging up the gardens and had railroad cops on hands to chase away the people who came rushing in to try to save their crops. }

Kahnawake seeks to remove non-Mohawks from territory   { A similar story, maybe the same one with a different link, says: “Reserve removes those who marry non-Mohawks” -eep- “Why can’t we just all get along?”}

TeamBuy customer raises warning after spa coupon not honoured   { This is from Halifax, N.S. “TeamBuy” is a ‘group buying’ website. A customer/group buying member bought a coupon for $199.00 that was advertized would save her  over $2,200.00 for a year’s membership in a laser hair removal spa – “$2,480 Value” – and when she tried to use it at the spa she was told the website owed the spa money and they were not going to honour that coupon. Then the ‘group buying website’ refused to refund her money. “They were rude, and they hung up on me, I had to chase them for my money,” she says. It’s not over- instead of getting her money back, after several calls and email messages, they gave her ‘team bucks’ coupons. The woman wants her money back and wants an apology for the way she was treated. A person at the spa told the CBC reporter that they have tried to contact the website buying club dozens of times through email and made several calls. They honoured several coupons they were supposed to be reimbursed for and had to stop because they couldn’t afford to go on doing that. }

NDP’s summer slump deepened by House spending woes   { Pardon me, but I don’t like the way this headline is worded. It sounds like an attempt to make a political party look bad. Like printing something along the lines of, “Loser political party jerks looking worse all the time.” The NDP is the party that Tommy Douglas (The ‘father of the Canadian Health Care System’- and a Baptist Minister) was the first leader of when two earlier parties merged. He was the Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 under one of the parties that merged. -anyway- that headline just rubbed me the wrong way. It sounded like it was written by a bully affiliated with a rival party going “ha-ha- lookit those stupid losers over there-” I hope I would feel just as bad if somebody posted a nasty bullying headline aimed at making a party I don’t like look worse than they’re already making themselves look-  }

ISIS child recruitment push hints at long-term ambitions   { Another headline calls this story the ‘Family-friendly jihad’. This story has me worried. We’ve learned that al-Qaeda means “The List” and refers to the list of anti Russian partisans the C.I.A. recruited and gave weapons to in Afghanistan. We’ve heard that agent-provacateurs were probably stirring up hatred between tribes in the middle east to manipulate chaos so western governments could be seen as coming to the rescue when they sent in their armies to take over and install western-friendly governments- Who benefits the most from having a lot of evangelical jihadists terrorizing a whole wide area, threatening to behead not just the western devils, but members of a rival sect within their own religion? }

=====

“Other”

Ukraine inspects aid convoy as Russian military vehicles spotted near border   { Here’s a scenario for you: a neo fascist movement springs up in the next state or the next county from you. Television reporters announce that clever neo fascist propagandists have been spreading rumours that you and your neighbours are torturing and raping the children of the friends of nice people who moved from that county into yours seeking better jobs. You hear that the neo fascists have recruited the wildest and most violent biker gangs in several states to come to their aid and ‘clean your clocks’. A natural disaster (flooding? earthquake?) or an un-natural disaster, ( a jet falls out of the sky, kills hundreds of passengers, sets acres of corn and wheat fields on fire, stampedes beef cattle who run all over your county-) First you hear that the neo fascists are sending you aid- food relief and veterinarians, and doctors and nurses who specialize in grief counseling- then you hear that the grief counselors are being escorted by bikers who are armed to the teeth and wearing uniforms with the logo of the neo fascists blazing across their jackets. Would you want to have your state’s national guard there, just in case? Now suppose both sides in the Russian-Ukrainian tensions believe the other side is spreading the kinds of lies about them that caused World War I to explode and involve just about everyone in Europe in the bloodiest conflict that continent had ever seen? Do you hear something going “Tick- tick- tick-“? }

Charitable donations spike following death of Robin Williams   {  }

Rallies to honour teen killed by Missouri police held across U.S.   { }

Window-smashing tool a lifesaver, says mom who drove into pond   {  }

Veteran mediator Vince Ready agrees to help end B.C. teachers’ dispute   {  }

Ice Bucket Challenge: Charity success story of damaging fad?   { An accompanying photo looks like athletic guys get a bucket of cold water dumped over their heads while they kneel in a farm field. Mark Zuckerberg -of facebook fame- took part in this challenge. “Once Challenged, you either dump a bucket of ice water over your head or donate $100.00 to the ALS association (ALS =  “Lew Gehrig’s disease”) And then the bucket dumpee has to nominate 3 other people to take the challenge & meet the conditions within 24 hours. }

Pterosaur fossil graveyard reveals striking new species   { They look really strange. Fashion Dinosaurs? The news story calls them flying reptiles. I hope they had really strong necks. Think maybe our racial memory wanted to have captains and admirals in the olde navies look like these guys? I wonder if they insisted that their children respond to their orders with “Aye Aye! Admiral, Sir!”  }

Tim Hortons introduces dark roast coffee   { Tim Hortons is to Canada what Dunkin Donuts is around here- and then some- it’s almost a religion up there. I met one gentleman who was born in Africa and moved to England before falling in love with a Canadian woman -lot of that going around these days- who stood near me and gazed at the long lines of cars going through a Tim Hortons drive through and said, “They must put something in that coffee, some kind of addictive drug- I don’t understand it-” & I didn’t either, not at first. I’m also a big fan of iced coffee- on my first few visits up there there was no such thing as iced coffee anywhere for sale. They had an oversweetened ‘ice-cap’ iced cappuccino- but a hot extra large cup of Tim Hortons coffee left in a refrigerator over night really floats my boat. }

Nordstrom, Marshalls prepare to battle for lucrative Calgary market   { Big U.S. chains of department stores might not have it as easy as they think they will up there. Canadians might not be as gullible as the cynical CEOs of monster discount chains believe they are. Target Stores lost money after their much hyped foray into the Canadian Great (not-so-White) North. Tell ya what- call yourself, “the great american discount store” and I bet you’ll be bankrupt in a year. }

Coffee pod prices set to jump 9%: Kuerig   { Uht-oh A certain K-cup addicted friend of mine will not be happy about this one- }

With soda sales fizzing out, Coca Cola makes huge bet on energy drinks   { And what will they do when people revolt against the sugary ‘energy drinks’? }

Canadian finds first space dust from outside solar system   { I can’t resist: Was that Canadian looking for space dust outside the solar system? And how did he get there? In truth, he spent thousands of hours ‘poring through images of samples brought back by NASA spacecraft as part of the Stardust citizen science project. He found two dust particles that tested as probably being formed around other stars, not our sun. }

Glacier melt worldwide now caused mainly by humans   { This one would be hard to prove. Convincing me might even be harder. }

Online shopping a game changer for business in India   {  }

Former Conservative Party staffer guilty in robocalls trial   { See, straight forward, no loaded words, just a relatively low key headline. No ‘Summer Slump’ or even “Scandal Woes”- }

Confusing sanctions regime irks industry, prompting plan for single list   { -Yeah, this one had me confused. But,- Banks and other financial institutions, (You know? Banksters, the guys who front for institutions that Thomas Jefferson said were”More dangerous than standing armies”? We know they’re not all that bright, but here’s their dilemma: “Businesses currently use 19 different lists from five domestic and international websites to ensure the freezing or seizure of assets linked to certain individuals and entities in countries including Iran, North Korea and, most recently, Russia and Ukraine.” and would like to have one official website where they can go and read up on what they’re not supposed to sell or buy from who and where?- }

Ottawa moving to close price gap with U.S. this fall – somehow: Chris Hall  {  }

Andy Warhol films to be digitized by museums   { If Andy was a twenty-something year old today, would he take a five minute iPhone video and turn that into a 24-hour ‘happening’? I’m trying to remember the exact details, didn’t he film a naked guy sleeping on a sofa in a Greenwich Village loft- for something like six hours and show that in a trendy movie theatre? }

Michael Cera drops new surprise album   { Oh, this is cool: Reincarnation researchers at IISIS -Not the Jihadist group, the ‘Institute for the integration of Science, Intuition and Spirit‘ <— Link – believe that Michael Cera is Harpo Marx Reincarnated. }

7 tips to prevent amputations during DIY home renos   { Apparently there are a lot of do it yourself-ers cutting themselves with power tools, losing fingers and hands and other important parts of their bodies, especially after they remove safety guards. And too many of these people have been around tools all their lives. So- the evil manipulating son of a guns who want everybody to be terrified that there might be terrorists under their beds would also like us to be afraid of any tools we might use to try to improve our surroundings and save a couple evil pieces of paper in the process. }

Ferguson reporters live-tweet their arrest   { Police may have targeted a TV news crew from Al-Jazeera with tear gas and then removed their TV News equipment after the journalists fled the tear gas attack in Ferguson, Missouri. I’m not sure they were Al-Jazeera America– but that group is one of the most diligent, un-biased group of reporters we have trying to find the truth and share it with us. }

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And:

There’s an ad in my browser: ” Find love on line / the shelter pet project adopt ” 🙂

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“Local” / “New Brunswick”

Deer management plan for Kennebecasis Valley unveiled   { I think I am beginning to have a problem with people who believe that deer need to be managed by human beings- who obviously can’t manage themselves very well- }

Car dependence hurting New Brunswick economy   { If they can prove this one, I’d like to see them prove that cars are hurting the economy of Los Angeles, California. They might be killing people and making us sick since the ice holes who control the ‘fossil fuel’ industry insisted for so long that we needed vehicles that ran on fuel that made them rich, and their dishonest ways are now trying to make us poor- oh, tell me to shut up and finish this- }

Dog owners could be fined, jailed for overnight dog tethering   { Jim told me that a woman around where he lives was facing legal troubles for digging out a dog whose dog house had been buried in one of the blizzards they lived through last winter and cutting the dog’s chain and bringing the dog home with her- The dog’s owner was out of the province and had somebody who was supposedly checking up on the animal daily. }

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{ Ack, first day back with the internet and this took me almost five hours? -Too much stuff I couldn’t just let go- & Typing on a laptop is a whole different ball game— okay if I split metaphors? 11:21 am Ithaca time – I did have to get up and let our puppy dog out a couple times etc. ———djo——— }

Thursday, 14 August, 2014.  -( 17°C / 63°F & raining @ 9:00 am where I’m at )-

{ This is Jim W here again today. Doug is still having problems with his computer. }

{ And again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories or watch the video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———Jim W——— }

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“Lead Stories”

‘Making a bad situation even worse’: The military-like police response in Missouri   { “Video shows men dressed in camouflage, carrying rifles, riding armoured vehicles around the streets of the Missouri town of Ferguson, where an unarmed black teen was killed by police over the weekend. But are they soldiers or police officers? It’s hard to tell, and that’s part of the problem. 7:49 AM ET” }

4 kids killed as Iraqi army, militants clash west of Baghdad  { }

German TV show posts text of EU-Canada free trade deal   { }

Russian aid convoy resumes journey to eastern Ukraine   { }

2 Bountiful, B.C. leaders charged with polygamy   { I guess you can’t get away with having multiple wives if you claim that’s part of your religious belief system. One guy has 4 wives and the other has 24, or has had twenty four over the years. One of the men and one of his wives is also charged with ‘removing a child from Canada under the age of 16′ and the rest of that charge isn’t clear. It may have been ‘sexual interference’ -which sounds to me like they removed someone who wanted to have sex with a boyfriend- or ‘invitation to sexual touching’. I’m wondering if they would be having legal troubles if they just ‘lived together in sin’ and didn’t try to go out and get a marriage certificate. Whatever the charges are involving the ‘child under the age of 16′ would be a whole different matter. }

Federal bill this fall may narrow Canada-U.S price gap   { You probably would find it hard to believe how much more expensive the same items are in Canada compared to the U.S. The people who control the prices have been blaming that on the difference in value between the Canadian ‘Looney’ and the U.S. dollar. But even when the two currencies were at about the same value anybody close to a border could drive across the border and buy a lot of things a lot cheaper in the U.S. than they could up here. (Yeah, I’m in Canada, unlike Doug who is in the finger lakes region of New York State.  }

Can Robin Williams’s death change how we talk about suicide?   { His family was quoted on t.v. this morning as saying they hope we all do not dwell on this- }

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“Offbeat”

‘I need a recharge’: HitchBot sets off on final leg of cross-Canada trip   { I’m tempted to snitch a photo of this thing and post it here. }

Maritime sea life linked to early European explorers   { Mud worms and mud shrimp, which are a staple for millions of birds and fish in the Bay of Fundy may have hitched a ride from Europe to the ‘New World’ in the ballast of explorers’ ships, liked their new home and went fruitful and multiplied. (?) }

Fake celebrity #Makeup Transformations poke fun at internet beauty trend   { }

Whitehorse fox plays with ball, annoys dog, goes viral   { Don’t tell our cats, they’ll want to come back as foxes and drive dogs crazy. }

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“Most Viewed”

Dr. Arthur Porter, accused Canadian fraudster, injured in Panamanian prison riot   { }

Alaska bear attack: Woman drives herself to hospital after mauling   { “A 57-year-old Alaskan hiker survived after being mauled by a brown bear on a wilderness trail, walking more than a mile to her truck and driving to hospital after the attack, state police reported on Wednesday.” The bear might have been bothered by the dogs the woman was hiking with. The woman thinks the bear bit her six or seven times. – Remember Sarah Palin? We’d have to ask if the bear was wearing lipstick.-  *Related stories: “Alaska bear falls through skylight into party, eats all the cupcakes.” & “-Video- Mother bear rescues cub from B.C. highway” }

Topsail Road Sobeys shaming fire lane offenders   { “Sobeys” is a supermarket chain. Topsail Road is in St John’s Newfoundland (“Holy Jumpin!” ). They’ve been shaming drivers who park in the ‘no parking, fire lane’ by announcing their license plate numbers over the store’s intercom.  }

Dog owner dies trying to save Dalmatian in Britannia fire.   { 🙁 I would have tried, too- }

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“Other”

Is Michael Sona ‘Pierre Poutine’? Robocalls verdict due today   { A Conservative-party-affiliated person has been accused of making ‘robocalls’ to direct 6,000 voters to the wrong polling station the day of the 2011 federal election. The Liberal Party incumbent held on to the seat anyway. If found guilty, the perpetrator can face up to five years in prison. The article goes on to say “Verdict doesn’t mean case is over” & *** A “Fair Elections Bill” sponsored by that same Conservative Party is reported to be something that would take the power to investigate cases of fraud like this one away from ‘Elections Canada’, the agency that is supposed to assure that elections are fair and honest. ***}

-New- Alison Redford’s travel scout job included advice on souvenirs, patios   {  }

Canada Post asking for doctor’s note to keep home mail delivery   { Canada Post has confirmed that it will require medical information from people who have indicated they are physically unable to pick their mail up from community cluster boxes. *** I bet this scheme would fall out of favor if they put all Members of Parliament’s mail boxes in the middle of the most impoverished, crime ridden section of the nearest city to where they live or work. }

Exhausted Gazans still hold out hope for open borders: Derek Stoffel  { }

U.S. Pilot pleads guilty in Calgary to smuggling loaded handgun in carry-on   {  }

2 boats under DFO investigation after whale chased   { }

Lake Superior research ship snags sunken century-old barge   { }

Cisco to slash 6,000 jobs   { }

‘As seen on TV’ company accused of scamming customers in lawsuit   { }

SeaWorld stung by whale captivity backlash, stock takes nosedive   {  }

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“Local” / “Ottawa”

Man rescued from Rideau Canal after crashing SUV   { }

Ottawa Public Health wants more e-cigarette research, regulations   { }

Bestiality, child pornography charges laid against Gatineau couple   { }

“New Brunswick”

New Moncton high school not ready for students   { }

Fredericton police locate accused drug store robber   { }

Car flies through trees in Rothesay neighbourhood   { }

#NB Liberals are promising to tax richest NBers more & recind business tax break to bring in $63M more in revenue   { }

Chance Harbour woman finds N.S. girl who sent message in a bottle   { }

FIFA fans frustrated by parking system in Moncton   { }

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{ I found a whole page full of New Brunswick Headlines and stories – & I think it takes me twice as long to do this as it does Doug, and he gets more and better comments in, um, that’s my opinion- hurry back, Doug! —ready to push the “Publish” button @ 10:47 am here in the rain ———Jim W———}

Wednesday, 13 August, 2014.  -( 24°C / 75°F & ‘Mostly Cloudy’ @ 1:00 pm where I’m at )-

{ This is Jim W here again today. Doug is still having problems with his computer. }

{ Again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories or watch the video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———jimw——— }

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“Lead Stories”

Céline Dion halts career to care for husband René Angélil   { The singer has been under a lot of stress herself since her husband had a cancerous tumor surgically removed last December. }

Ottawa researcher pleads guilty in pathogen smuggling case   {  }

Air Canada Jazz Flight AC8953 flight makes emergency landing in Ottawa   { }

Passengers on Air Transat 2001 flight shed light on PTSD    { }

Italian reporter, Palestinian translator die in Gaza blast   { }

Number of dead  in Ukraine conflict doubles to over 2,000   { In a related story there’s a headline: “60 people a day dying in Ukraine violence” }

Why blacks in the U.S. believe they’re targeted by police   {  }

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“Offbeat”

Young hooded seal makes visit to Montreal waters   { }

HitchBot nears the end of its cross-Canada journey   { }

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“Most Viewed”

Nick and Lisa Masee still missing 20 years after mysterious disappearance   { }

Virginia Hillis, Gwendolyn Deegan, 2 dual citizens, sue Ottawa for allowing new U.S. FATCA tax rules   { “American-born dual citizens … cite charter rights”  “Two women in Ontario are suing the federal government for complying with a new U.S. law that forces banks to turn over financial information of Canadian citizens to IRS upon request.” Both women moved from the U.S. to Canada as children and have lived in Canada for decades. ‘They argue the recently enacted Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act violates their rights as Canadians under to Charter of Rights and Freedoms. }

Toddler near London found safe after intense OPP search   { }

Samsung Galaxy Alpha metal-frame phone unveiled   { }

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“Other”

Near-record rainfall swamps Michigan   { There is a photo with this article that shows several vehicles abandoned at the side of a flooded highway, some of them with only the very top of their roofs above water. }

‘The future of money’: Toronto gets 6 new bitcoin machines   { }

Radar software may fix weather forecast issues caused by wind farms   { }

‘Soft landing’ expected for housing market, CMHC says   { }

-Analysis- From Vietnam to Gaza, the fearful history of tunnel warfare: Joe Schlessinger   { }

“He was always warm, even in his darkest moments’: Robin Williams’s family speaks   { }

Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki warns of more turmoil if replaced   { }

5 climbers die on Western Europe’s tallest mountain   { That would be Mount Blanc in France }

Police shoot armed man amid protests over teen’s death   { }

Justin Bieber to take plea deal in Florida street racing case   { }

Kellogg to make suppliers report carbon emissions   { }

-Must Watch- Trapped turtle freed   { }

-Must Watch- Flood waters surge through hospital   { “A massive wave of water bursts through the cafeteria at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska” }

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“Local” / “Ottawa”

Pedestrians seriously hurt after 2 downtown Ottawa crashes   { }

Heavy rainfall douses Ottawa’s warm summer weather   { }

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“Technology & Science”

Stanford professor 1st woman to win ‘Nobel Prize of mathematics’   { }

‘Electro-mats’ used to deter wildlife away from Banff train tracks   { }

First Nation aims to evict Imperial Metals over Mount Polley tailings spill   { }

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{ Again, I don’t know how Doug gets his local news from a New Brunswick feed, what I get is from Ottawa. ———Jim W——— }