43 Replies to “May 28, 2018: Reader Tips”

    2. The net looks like a seine that sturgeon are getting entangled in. The fisherman are cutting the sturgeon out of the net and releasing them.
      They don’t appear to be the target species.

  2. Guess the parties.

    1. The federal government has blocked the sale of Canadian construction company Aecon Group Inc. to Chinese interests, citing national security.

    The controversial deal between Aecon and China’s CCCC International Holding Ltd., also known as CCCI, would have been worth $1.5 billion.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-blocks-aecon-sale-china-1.4675353

    2. TORONTO (Reuters) – The contentious $15.1 billion takeover of Canadian oil and gas company Nexen Inc NXY.TO by Chinese state-owned entity CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) closed on Monday, more than seven months after China’s largest-ever foreign takeover was announced.
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nexen-cnooc/cnooc-closes-15-1-billion-acquisition-of-canadas-nexen-idUSBRE91O1A420130225

    1. I think the last time I was in a planetarium was almost 40 years ago when I was still a grad student at UBC.

      One of these days, I should pack up my telescope and take it to the Dark-sky area near Edmonton. Mind you, I remember a few places along the Trans-Canada Highway between Calgary and Brooks that had excellent viewing conditions and, if I’m ever in the area again, I might set it up there if I have it with me.

      Alternately, I could build myself an amateur radio telescope. I’ve heard that some of my fellow hams tinker with them.

      1. The Northern Lights are great outside of Calgary, a beautiful green. Bring a camera! Don’t leave home without it! There are a lot of guys out there. ( The police will sometimes phone you to enquire what ‘s up. Just tell them what you’re doing and they’ll reassure the farmer that you’re just an amateur photographer and wish you a pleasant evening…that’s how many is out there. Of course The farmer will have to tail gate you to get your license number!)

        2. I did some sky photography when I lived in Calgary 40 years ago.

          The best aurora I’ve seen, though, were in Saskatoon. The reason was that, during the early 1980s, the geomagnetic field was shaped in such a way to make this possible. At that time, the University of Saskatchewan had a group inside the physics department that specialized in auroral research.

          In fact, the aurora are a nuisance to the city maintenance department. The currents that are generate contribute to the external corrosion of underground piping, which is one reason why, each year, many streets are dug up.

          For more information about that and other space weather, take a look at:

          http://www.spaceweather.com

      2. Thanks, BA, Nancy, you stirred some fond Alberta memories for me.

        About 20 yrs ago, I woke my two young daughters up at about 2 AM and drove them about 30 mins out of Calgary to watch a meteor shower. We ended up in a farmer’s field somewhere a ways SE of Strathmore, the viewing conditions were excellent and we were treated to quite a show.

        I was heartened to see the large amount of other vehicles we encountered, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, that were out for the same experience as us. When you take into account the massive rural square miles surrounding Calgary, there must have been thousands of us out for the experience.

        I have often wondered since, how many big-city kids are denied the most basic of human experiences, staring at and contemplating a clear and endless starry sky. Heck, I guess that’s just the tip of the iceberg as to what ‘rights of passage’ many big-city kids are missing out on these days.

        1. How wonderful !
          You’ve chosen your name well, Canadian Observer!
          I’ll bet your daughters appreciated their outing with you and reflect on it, still to this day. Sometimes the best things are free.

          Viewing the ‘ Snowbirds ‘ at Springbank Airport perform their maneuvers and viewing the Hot Air Ballooners at High River are some other great excursions that one can appreciate, in BIG SKY COUNTRY! ( Do make the time, you’ll have goosebumps… ah ha ha, I guarantee)

          Nice of you to share, I’m sure B A will be appreciative too.
          Smiles to You!

          1. Big Sky Country? Tell me about it. I knew that area fairly well when I lived in Calgary during the late 1970s, though I haven’t been back to the area around Springbank.

            The nearest thing to what you describe here in Edmonton are the occasional hot-air balloons that drift across my part of the city.

            I did attend the last air show held at the old CFB Namao nearly 25 years ago. That was definitely something to see.

            The preceding Friday, I saw some of the planes coming in to land at the old Edmonton Municipal Airport because I lived along the flight path almost due south of it. At the show itself, there was all sorts of American and Russian-built hardware. You name it, it was likely there, including an AWACS, an A-10 “Warthog”, a huge Antonov transport, several Russian-built fighters, and a B-1.

            The highlight was watching some of those warbirds fly, including the B-1 as well as an A-26 Invader (later re-designated B-26).

            During the airshow before that, there was an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter on display, as this was shortly after the end of the first Gulf War. It was, understandably, quite an attraction.

            On the other hand, for some sort of aviation display two or three years ago, a B-17 (the Sentimental Journey) was flown in for the event. I just happened to be outside on my balcony with my amateur radio station when I saw it when it made two passes over my part of the city. Now that was sight to behold!

        2. I grew up in northern B. C., so I know what you’re referring to.

          When Comet Hale-Bopp was passing through our part of the solar system, I went out one night to take pictures. I went to a pair of baseball diamonds across the street from where I live.

          At the same time, someone was standing in the doorway of an adjacent townhouse and he called over to me, asking me if it actually was Hale-Bopp in the sky.

          When I said yes, he thanked me and quickly disappeared inside. A few moments later, he was back but with two young children in tow, both dressed in the pyjamas and rubbing sleep from their eyes. He enthusiastically pointed out the comet to them, though I’m not sure they appreciated what he did or what they saw.

          I’ll bet, though, now that they’re young adults that they remember what their father did for them that night.

          1. I am no expert on planes, you’ll have to forgive me. I would be remiss if I say I knew a lot about them. They’re fun to see though.

            Two years ago the Springbank Air Show featured the “Canadian Snowbirds” which was a sight to behold. The show also featured some expert skydivers, also very impressive. Last year’s show was hastily put together, hardly advertised and the parking situation was a nightmare. There were not enough exits for the amount of cars that were there. A real scenario for a disaster. They had less featured ( no Snowbirds, no Sky-diving experts) and the place was so heavily guarded you would have thought that Trump was coming! I will not go again.

            As for the balloon festival, the Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival in High River, last September, was only shortened by one day last year due to inclement weather. It was interesting to see the balloons inflated at ground level and to see them take off. There were many balloons flying from 2 different sites. The 2018 festival will take place, September 26-30 th.

            Of course these shows take place during hot weather so one must be prepared with life saving items, like water, hats, sunglasses, even snacks etc. (Turkey dinner with all the trimmings… I digress, just kidding)

            P.S.There was one gentleman who got lost in the parking lot at Springbank, who I thought, was going to die. He was like 80ish and had had both hips replaced, he said. He was pushing a walker in the grassy, bumpy parking field, and couldn’t find his car. ( no indicaters, like at Disneyland or your average Mall) It was about 30°C ish, he had no hat nor pack-sack with life savers, like water. I spotted him and asked whether he needed some assistance. He must have thought I was a nut case and he dismissed me, ” ah no thanks”. Later I spotted him again, going back and forth, between the cars, row after row, all wilted and frail. This time I insisted, despite possibly being rejected again, that he at least sit and drink some water. I told him, kindly, but in no uncertain terms, that I didn’t want to have to call an ambulance, if he fainted from dehydration. He gave me a nice hug and squeezed me, later, when he found his car. It was nice to see someone get visibly better!

            I still cherish our photo, together, with his arms around me, squeezing me! Wow! ( a complete stranger!)

            Now you know why I don’t know much about planes!
            Heh, heh!

  4. 9 year old drag superstar Lactatia at @RuPaulsDragCon with a message for her haters!!
    wearing her infamous sequin onesie from @TheHouseofMann!!
    (Brandon Hilton LGBT actor and activist)

    The last time we saw this poor kid, Nemis Golden, on the internet he was being depicted as a courageous little boy playing at his favourite thing, being a drag queen. Apparently it was hilarious to many progressives, especially his parents. Now this gay activist is calling him “she”. That was quick.
    https://twitter.com/peterjhasson/status/1000599731217805312
    Via Peter J Hasson on Twitter

    1. I remember that song largely for one reason–it was constantly played over and over again on the radio and I recall a few people in the residence I lived in during my freshman undergraduate year had it on their turntables.

      Mind you, a number of singers, including Nana Mouskouri, recorded it. I vaguely remember her performance of it during her concert in Calgary in 1978.

  6. Terry Jacks is a somewhat distant cousin on my fathers side. I’ve never met him but I was told a long time ago that he got on the charts by buying up a whole bunch of his own records and it took off from there. I have an original 45 from Ex-Juke Box Records original print run made in Great Britain on Bell telephone Records division LP from 1974. Kinda a family heirloom.

  7. https://www.globalresearch.ca/saudi-wahhabism-serves-western-imperialism/5642047

    Saudi Wahhabism Serves Western Imperialism

    When the Saudi Crown Prince gave an interview to the Washington Post, declaring that it was actually the West that encouraged his country to spread Wahhabism to all corners of the world, there was a long silence in almost all the mass media outlets in the West, but also in countries such as Egypt and Indonesia.

    Reading between the lines, the Saudi Prince suggested that it was actually the West which, while fighting an ‘ideological war’ against the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, handpicked Islam and its ultra-orthodox and radical wing – Wahhabism – as an ally in destroying almost all the progressive, anti-imperialist and egalitarian aspirations in the countries with a Muslim majority.

    The Brits were behind the birth of the movement; the Brits and one of the most radical, fundamentalist and regressive preachers of all times – Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

    The essence of the Wahabi/British alliance and dogma was and still is, extremely simple: “Religious leaders would force the people into terrible, irrational fear and consequent submission. No criticism of the religion is allowed;no questioning of its essence and particularly of the conservative and archaic interpretation of the Book. Once conditioned this way, people stopped questioning and criticizing first the feudalist, and later capitalist oppression; they also accepted without blinking the plunder of their natural resources by local and foreign masters. All attempts to build a socialist and egalitarian society got deterred, brutally, ‘in the name of Islam’ and ‘in the name of God’”.

    Of course,as a result, the Western imperialists and the local servile ‘elites’ are laughing all the way to the bank, at the expense of those impoverished and duped millions in the countries that are controlled by the Wahhabi and Western dogmas.

    Only a few in the devastated, colonized countries actually realize that Wahhabism does not serve God or the people; it is helping Western interests and greed.

    Precisely this is what is right now happening in Indonesia, but also in several other countries that have been conquered by the West, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Were Syria to fall, this historically secular and socially-oriented nation would be forced into the same horrid direction. People there are well aware of this, as they are educated. They also see what has happened to Libya and Iraq and they definitely do not want to end up like them. It is the Wahhabi terrorist fighters that both the West and its lackeys like Saudi Arabia unleashed against the Syrian state and its people.

  9. …_

    “REPORT: Doug Ford Wins Final Ontario Leaders Debate

    Ford consistently put forward ideas to put money back in taxpayers pockets, while Horwath failed to answer questions about her extremist candidates. Meanwhile, Wynne likely didn’t do enough to counteract the overwhelming desire for change.

    With concerns rising about a possible socialist government in Ontario, PC Leader Doug Ford put in a strong performance in the final Ontario Leaders debate, emerging with a win in the last time all leaders will be on stage together before the election.”

    “Ford regularly got his message across to the people of Ontario, focusing on how he would find efficiencies, cut taxes, fix the hydro mess, and get the economy booming again.

    Ford struck a positive note in much of the debate, pointing out that lower taxes will get the economy booming to such a level that there won’t be a worry about how to afford teachers, doctors, nurses, and more.”

    https://www.spencerfernando.com/2018/05/27/report-doug-ford-wins-final-ontario-leaders-debate/

    1. Well, that was his message, but he did not have a lot to back it up. I give him points for enthusiasm, but it may not be enough. Wynne did well. I don’t think Horwath did particularly well. There may be some shifting in the polls. If Doug holds steady, that would be good.

    1. She knows why/how she got the job.
      The rcmp marching orders come out of the PMO.
      She wont change the culture of the force one iota.

  11. The UK’s legal system has created very specific conditions around Tommy Robinson to silence him

    This is a M U S T V I E W

    Even for people who people who think they are fully briefed on the Tommy Robinson case. I read the great man’s book Enemy of the State a year or so ago, which I also strongly recommend for background. Were you to relate Tommy’s stories about his treatment in prison to the average Joe or Jane in the UK, or Canada for that matter, they would flat out disbelieve you. Attempted Judicial Murder!

    From Brian from London who moved to Israel 9 years ago due to the great difficulty in reporting on Islam in the police state formerly known as Great Britain.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B3PImtnJwAM&time_continue=475&ebc=ANyPxKrgjlGVSI-JFiwI6BECvhj1NtsQjx3Wqu2RlV8bfEF_11obFnaxW5grZnNUKRg9B-PkKzoXEyi4OIjL4iafIec-yd36_w

    1. Tommy exposed pedophiles. He is not ant-Islamic. The pedophile ring was Muslim. I suspect the reason Tommy is an enemy of the state is that a good portion of the politicians, police, prosecutors, and judges prefer sex with children. Is there any other possible explanation for the bizarre treatment he has received?

  14. https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-godfather-billionaire-sheldon-adelsons-influence-on-donald-trump/5642106

    Billionaire Sheldon Adelson was influential in Trump’s controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and he also lobbied Trump on the Iran nuclear deal. Turns out Adelson also has a connection to former PM Stephen Harper.

    “Adelson, the tenth richest man in the world and the GOP’s largest donor, is known to use his money to influence policies on behalf of Israel.

    After Trump tore up the Iran agreement, Adelson donated an additional $30 million to the Republican party, possibly the single largest single donation in U.S. history.”

    “Adelson also influenced former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who endorsed Trump’s embassy action and anti-Iran move.

    Mesley interviews New York Times reporter Ken Vogel, who says that Adelson has private meetings at the White House with Trump, Vice President Pence, John Bolton, and others.

  15. Had no idea that one hit wonder, Terry Jacks was Canadian …

    But as usual … also … a rabid “environmentalist”

    In the late 1970s, Jacks gradually withdrew from the music world. He had a daughter, born in 1985. In the 1980s, Jacks became involved in the environmental movement, focusing on pulp mill pollution issues in Canada. His environmental work has earned him several awards including one from the United Nations Association in Canada[citation needed] and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award[11] in 1997 for his work, as well as the Eugene Rogers Environmental Award

    1. Terry Jacks is, perhaps, best-known today for that song (written by Rod McKuen, by the way), but he was hardly a one-hit wonder here in Canada. He and his ex-wife Susan were members of the group The Poppy Family, which a few years earlier, had some songs on the charts.

      When TPF disbanded and he and his wife split, he embarked on a solo career, during which he recorded Seasons in the Sun. Susan Jacks recorded some songs on her own, but I don’t recall them being anywhere near as successful.

      1. “written by Rod McKuen”

        Actually adapted by McKuen from a Jacques Brel tune “Le Moribond” Terry Jacks produced it for the Beach Boys but they decided not to release it. Jacks did and it was one of less than 40 tunes to sell over 10 million copies.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB58PuNYO8o

        1. I stand corrected, not that it matters. I never liked the song and I cringe each time I hear it.

          Then again, I’ve never been a fan of Terry Jacks’s music or that of The Poppy Family.

          1. I am always loathe to render my negative opinions on music, because I will invariably needlessly offend more than half the population. I will make an exception with this lousy song. I HATED it in 1974 … and I still HATE IT. All I recall … is hearing it come on my car radio in 1974 … telling my girlfriend how dreadful that song was … only for her to say how much she liked it … that was the beginning of the end for us. Too bad, she was the best kisser I ever met.

          2. One reason this song was so popular here in Canada was because of Pierre Trudeau. Shortly after he became PM, he mandated that, here in Canada, at least 60% of all music broadcast by radio stations as well as 60% of all shows on TV and movies in theatres had to have–you guessed it–Canadian content.

            That Canadian content could either be performances or original compositions. A lot of the songs on the radios were cover versions, many of which paled in comparison to the original releases. But, if it was recorded by a Canadian band, it passed.

            The result was that songs like this one got a lot of airplay and not just on the radio. I don’t remember it being played in any of the bars or pizza parlours I went to during my undergrad days, but I’m sure that some of those establishments did.

  16. Done, documents please, and onto Parliamentary censure (or should be).

    “Green party Leader Elizabeth May pleads guilty to contempt over pipeline protest.”

    May’s lawyer, Alex Ejsmont, said his client apologizes for the harms her actions caused to the court and proposed a fine of $500, adding May entered an early guilty plea that indicates her remorse.”

    “She takes the position that non-violent civil disobedience has a place in a functioning democracy,” he added.

    That’s right, in front of a judge for criminal consequences that matter, not a paltry $500 fine.

    IOW she broke the law and doesn’t care; only her beliefs matter. She is therefore a lawbreaker, not a lawmaker.

    https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2018/05/28/cp-newsalert-green-party-leader-elizabeth-may-pleads-guilty-to-contempt-2/#.WwxU90xFzmR

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation