Friday, 13 February, 2015  -( +6˚F / -14˚C  & clear, The Sun is still bright @ 5:00 pm near Ithaca )-  -( +9˚F / -13˚C   & becoming dusk  @ 6:00pm Closer to Halifax —jim w—)-   —  { Headlines compiled by douglas j otterson & jim wellington, with help from —jda— } { Some things change, some articles remain. Do you know where your survival kit is?  —djo— }

The sun is still shining on Ithaca at 5 pm. —djo—

Thought for the day? “It’s bad luck to be superstitious-“

You can see the love on this dog’s face. Or maybe she’s hungry and the sick human’s spouse wouldn’t give her the good stuff? Anyway. It’s a nice touching story and love like that should start out our depressing news of the day reports, ya think? —djo—

For contrast – Yes, start your day off inspired by something positive and see if that does change the way your day unravels. —jim w—

This feels positive. Maybe things are looking up. —djo—

Weather News: Boston got as much as 37 inches of new snow on Monday, and already had two feet of snow on the ground. Public Transportation came to a grinding halt there.  & It looked like Halifax and other parts of Nova Scotia were getting dumped on Tuesday. Newfoundland and Labrador are being clobbered on Thursday. With two possible Nor’Easters heading for Maritimes over the weekend. On Friday they’re telling us we’ll probably get off easy while a storm might hit Nova Scotia, But Sunday might be another ‘Major’ snow event.

I thought the church had the Knights Templars executed on Friday the 13th, like burned at the stake or worse? And we did hear that 13 was a lucky number before that. —djo—

This one hung up and acted like it would crash while I was loading it. —djo—

“Trust yourself!” —jim w—

Apple plans to go 100% Renewable Energy as soon as it can. Let’s hope this is more than an Public Relations ruse. —djo—

In our natural state, before we are poisoned by Genetically Modified Food and highly controlled media, we are really ‘nice’ beings. fear and hatred are conditioned into us by nasty people with a nasty agenda. —djo—               A ‘Bodhisattva’ is an ‘Enlightened’ being who could enjoy the peace and serenity of the Heavenly Realms but comes back down here to help guide and liberate the rest of us from the negative b.s. that could lead us downward instead of up.  —jim w—

Not exactly on topic, but I’ll quote John Lennon here, or post a retweet of a John Lennon quote – —jim w—

We’ve got friends who believe that climate change is a terrorist activity being engineered by nasty dark ops ice-holes with military background at the behest of corporate ice-holes who are desperate to gain or regain control over the hearts and minds of everybody on this planet, or kill us all if we resist. —djo—

This is a cool juxtaposition of messages this morning, don’t-cha think? —jim w—

As Canada moves into an election year that will start and stop a whole lot quicker than we’re used to down here in the ‘States’, Things should be heating up on both sides. My friends up there tend to gravitate toward this view- That Stephen Harper is a born again Fascist who really wants to get it right this time- —djo—

Tommy Douglas was voted something like the biggest Canadian Hero a couple years ago for conceiving and implementing the Canadian Health Care System, which greedy sonofaguns have been trying to talk down and dismantle ever since. —jim w—

The Harper government claims it was saving lots of money by cheating veterans out of their pensions and closing down offices that helped veterans get access to health care for PTSD and other conditions the government habitually denies coverage for. Meanwhile that same government has spent hundreds of times more money than it claims it saved — advertizing bogus ‘Economic Action Plan’ gains and phony apprenticeship programs with ‘interest free loans’ that suddenly are not interest free when the ‘apprentice’ graduates the programme and discovers that he or she can’t buy a decent job and owes much more than he or she can pay back while working part time flipping hamburgers or pushing donuts. —djo—

More of today’s point-counterpoint: Bernie Sanders weighs in- 🙂 & It isn’t just the U.S. and Canada that are under attack by ‘big money interests’ Look at Greece, where a lot of voters have vivid memories of what it is like to live under a Fascist regime. And look around Europe, where Portugal, Spain and too many other countries are waking up and wondering “WTF” is going on. & I’m happy to report that some of my farourite ‘Psychics’ as well as much more scientific trend watchers are seeing a messy time of it, after which the ‘Banksters’ will no longer be in power. “Half Past Human dot com” says the last Bankster will be strangled by the intestines of the last phony religious cleric after enraged ex-catholics burn down the Vatican in 2019, after learning what Organized Religion has actually been up to for the last century or more, and the Bank of the Vatican has been funding the bloody black ops mind control while Catholic Priests helped develop Nazi torture technology to sexually abuse children and turn them into ‘Manchurian Candidate’ type brain-washed victims that could be activated to pull off seemingly random breaks that are actually attacks on our freedoms and liberty. The Texas Tower sniper, the Unibomber, the guy who shot John Lennon, and most of the wild and crazy school shootings and Theater shootings are done by ‘targeted’ individuals who have been conditioned and activated to pull off inconceivable acts of terror, so the government can pass emergency legislation that takes your freedom away and gives them more and more control over everything you think do and say. —jim w—

Child Labour in 1911

Child Labour in 2015.

Here’s a ‘Then and Now’ Tweet that twitter wouldn’t let me retweet. Maybe it was deleted?—djo—                             & I remember 14 year olds being a lot smarter and aware than adults gave us credit for, even if we weren’t always capable of seeing ‘the whole picture’ or understanding clearly what we saw going on around us, when I was one of them. —  Should I admit the Beatles hit the USA when I was a fourteen year old?  —jim w—

{ Today’s Birthdays : — You can find all this and more at http://www.historyorb.com/today/birthdays.php 

February 13th: 1849- Lord Randolph Churchill, Winston’s father was born in England. 1885- Elizabeth [Bess] Truman, Harry’s wife & First Lady. 1887- Alvin York (Sargent York) US Soldier Famous for killing 25 ‘enemy’ in WW I.  1888- Georgios Papandreou, Greek prefect of Lesbos/minister/premier.  1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bristol Tn, country vocalist/actor (pea picker). 1923 – Chuck Yeagar, US test pilot (1st man to break sound barrier). 1933- Kim Novak, [Marilyn], actress (Vertigo, Of Human Bondage), born in Chicago, Illinois. 1934- George Segal, actor/banjo player (Carbon Copy, Fun with Dick & Jane). 1942- Carol Lynley, actress (Night Stalker, Fantasy Island, Immortal), born in NYC, New York & Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees). 1944- Jerry Springer,talk show host (Jerry Springer Show), born in London, England & Stockard Channing, actress (Grease, Big Bus, Without a Trace), born in NYC, New York.  1950- Peter Gabriel, Surrey England, rock vocalist (Genesis, In Your Eyes).  }

Yesterday’s News: Smart TVs that can recognize verbal commands can listen in to any conversation inside your home while that feature is on. NSA operatives etc, can also turn that on whenever they feel like it. Samsung admitted they have ‘a third party’ monitoring everything “to know when a command is given.”

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{ Canadian Headlines : From :  http://www.cbc.ca/news  <— Link }

Mass shooting spree suicide plot foiled by Halifax police   { * Be suspicious of this kind of headline. It might be true, but look deeper. We keep hearing that too many of these loose cannons were normal people who were ‘targeted and conditioned, then activated’ to carry out their crimes. Texas Tower shooter, Unibomber, the guy who shot John Lennon, and almost anyone, especially ‘lone gunmen’ who ‘flip out’ and shoot up schools, movie theaters, etc. They may not all be MK-Ultra but if some of them are, we have to do something about this. *  —djo— }

Why are so many of Peter MacKay’s appointed judges also his friends   {* Looks like another scandal is about to rock the Harper ‘government’. Peter MacKay has been in the spotlight before for inappropriate behaviour. He comes off as a mean spirited- bad loser. * —djo— }

FBI agent arranced ‘chance’ meeting with Via Rail terror suspect   { * Stephen Harper is a micro-managing ice-hole. If the Canadian people re-elect him prime minister, then (1) they deserve to go to hell in a handbasket and (2) I wouldn’t believe a ‘fair election’ or honest vote count happened anywhere on this planet, ever. * —djo— }

Stephen Harper’s chief spokesman leaving PMO ahead of election   { * I should quote a woman friend who lives in Canada, “More rats are jumping ship before it goes down and brings them with it”.  *  —djo— }

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A Florida based artist has been told to stop selling miniature versions of the Super Bowl halftime ‘character’ sharks.

Offbeat News:

How ‘Left Shark’ sparked a 3D printing legal row with Katy Perry   {  }

Did you leave thousands of dollars in a bundle of drapes?   {  }

Watch a cat dig its way out after a snowstorm   { * I had to check with Jim about this one, no, it wasn’t his cat. *  —djo— }

Petri Island ice fishing village invites gamers with arcade   { * I had to read this one a couple times before I understood what it meant. * —djo— }

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-The Big Chill – Version 2015 – Hits the Maritimes-

Local / New Brunswick / Maritime News:

New Brunswick braces for heavy snow and extreme cold weekend   { * So, what else is new? *  —jim w—  }

Kennebecasis Valley High School teacher faces sex charges   {    }

New Brunswick faces a ‘serious deficit position’: Roger Melanson   {   }

Local producers praise David Coon’s food security bill   { * – Some New Brunswick entrepreneurs say Green Party Leader David Coon’s proposed Local Food Security Act will help grow a larger market for locally grown food in the province. – The proposed bill would see the provincial government give preference to local food providers to supply food for nursing homes, schools and hospitals. – It would also include better labelling for local food and bringing healthy food education to schools. – Tim Cochran of Cochran’s Country Market said he has seen firsthand the state of New Brunswick agriculture industry. – “We have a lot of farmers that I’ve been dealing with for 20 years that they’re going to retire and there isn’t the farmers there to take their place, partly because I think it’s a hard industry to break into,” Cochrane said.

Levi Lawrence, the owner of Real Food Connections, said Coon’s bill would help create a better market for local food in New Brunswick. But he said change will not happen immediately. (CBC)

– Cochran said Coon’s proposal could help make it easier for people to make a living in the agriculture industry. – “I think it’s excellent,” he said. – “From what I understand, it’s really going to promote and drive the promotion of locally grown produce and products.” – Levi Lawrence, the owner of Real Food Connections, said the act would be a step forward by building the market for local food in the province. – But he said even if the bill passes, change won’t happen overnight. – “There is still a lot of work to be done in the province in supplying, distributing and processing what we grow in the province that the act doesn’t really help us do,” Lawrence said. – “It does create a market for entrepreneurs to work on that problem and better reason to get into that business, but that’s the biggest gap we have in the province today.” – Lawrence has been expanding his local food store in Fredericton and is now getting ready to open up a store in Saint John. He went through a major crowdfunding campaign last year. –Coon open to amendments – The bill is expected to have its second reading sometime in mid-March. If the bill passed, Coon said it would take about 12 months to get it up and running. – “It sets up an advisory committee to work with the various ministers who would be involved,” he said. – “And really that’s all it would take to get to the point where targets could be set for the province and for targets for our public institutions like schools and hospitals.” – Coon said he’s received a lot of positive feedback on the bill from agriculture organizations as well as individual MLAs. – He said he’s hopeful the bill will pass and said he is open to making amendments. – “I’m always open to amendments to make bills better so we get the best possible law in the books,” he said. – “But I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t pass. I think both parties would have to explain why they wouldn’t support it if it didn’t pass.” – A government spokesperson said Coon’s bill is being studied. – “The government has committed to developing a local food and beverages strategy to assist local growers and produces develop their products and get them to market,” the spokesperson said. –  The National Farmers Union in New Brunswick said in a statement on Thursday that they would like to see Coon’s bill passed. – “Food is one thing that all New Brunswickers require on a daily basis and food security is an issue that affects and unites all people,” the group said in a statement. –   }

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This was retweeted again, and it’s worth re -publishing. Who benefits from a bill Stephen Harper is trying to say is good for everybody? Only the rich- —djo—

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{ We’re taking it slow for now, after being ‘down for the count’ / ‘under the weather’ / being beaten up by flu bugs for the last several weeks. Who knows? We might wake up tomorrow full of vim and vinegar and want to dive right back into what we were doing up to near the end of last month. But right now, I don’t even want to think about a lot of the nonsense that is passing for ‘News’ lately.  — Quote Paul Simon? “I get all the news I need from the weather report.” (?) But anyway, we could probably supply you with a barrage of retweeted stuff: Yay? Note to the world: “Hang in there-”  —djo— }

Yay! I found something Positive! & I’ve wanted to hear anything good about Apple since it’s been looking like they’ve embraced the same sleazy-iced ‘Make sure they can’t use last years peripherals with this year’s ‘gotta-have-its’ greedy ice-hole marketing strategy. Grumble Grumble…

“How US Companies try to avoid paying taxes?” or how they get away with that?

“Smart TeeVees = Bad News” —djo—

Without a whole lot more details I have no idea what this is or whether or not it might be appropriate for children. Best Guess? : Cover Photo of National Geographic Kids Magazine.

Coming from Lockheed Martin – I wouldn’t trust this as far as I could throw one of those towers. ‘Smart Grids’ are buzz words for the greedy corporate ice-holes who are using your ‘smart appliances’ to spy on you. smart meters disturb sleep patterns and give utility companies the ability to monitor your use and shut you down at their slightest whim. Senior citizens were killed in Texas when a power company shut off their air conditioners during an incredible heat wave. 106 degrees F in a high rise = dead senior citizens + Zero Corporate responsibility. —djo—

Another weird juxtaposition coming our way from the ‘Tweet-Us-Sphere’ —jim w—

And, while we’re on the subject of the ‘Surveillance State’ – is this a legitimate view of what is going on? Or is this a stunt to try to recruit the kind of security cops who don’t mind getting their hands inside babies’ diapers and strip searching beautiful young women? Gack! —djo—

A person who works at ‘Corrections Canada’ told me I was an effing idiot if I believed the ‘b.s.’ that Texas would lock anyone up for life if they were caught with a single marijuana cigarette. The next time I saw the guy he looked stunned, like he had researched that in order to try to slap me in the face with the ‘truth’ – and found out I had told him the truth. But he never apologized. Arizona is almost as bad as Texas. —jim w—

& The previous ‘government’/regime – here in New Brunswick may have made some dirty deals, but those deals may not be chiselled in stone. —jim w—

My Map of Twitter Followers? —jim w—

Tweet Map – Not as pretty as Jim’s, but at least you can read it. —djo—

Dueling Twitter Maps? Nah- But These are my ‘newer followers’ & I’m not in this to see how many followers I can get. Neither is Doug.  —jim w—

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8:40 pm – I got here late and have received a barrage of “#shutdowncanada” tweets. I want to look into this before we publish. — both of us broke for dinner a while back so we haven’t been killing ourselves here, but… —        —jim w—

{ There were quite a few demonstrations in Montreal and maybe elsewhere, people disrupted traffic with signs I’ll translate to “you can stick your austerity measures where we hope it hurts you a lot.” And the feeling is ‘we’re not going to take this [ bull chips ] any more. But now it’s after 9 pm and we’ve been at this at least twice as long as we wanted to be- Time for somebody else to jump in and save their little corner of this world. okay?  —jim w— }

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{ We should quit while we’re ahead? Good Night Amerika – Whatever you are. -wink-  —djo— & friends —  }

 { & Doug has added a catch all blog to our madness here, and we will probably be posting our daily stuff there too, at http://www.aerendel.org/CanadianNews/ It’s on one of our servers and he managed to put in a twitter feed and connected his sadly neglected effbook account so anyone friending the right Doug Otterson on facebook should get lots of interesting retweets etc. Busman’s Holidays are Us?  —jim w— }

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