Pack-Rats-R-Us to the Rescue Again

Odds and Ends

Sometimes, a key paragraph, even a header, a link or a whole post that has been indicated as posted (in my own peculiar system of indicating by colour) and yet, is missing -- not posted? Or it may have just fallen into file thirteen . . . that black hole or great maw that gobbles up sensitive items. Once again, Pack-Rats-R-Us has come to the rescue. On re-reading, some of these were so interesting--maybe more so with the passage of time--that I decided to include even more phrases than I had at first. Enjoy . . . and remember, where there is Gremlin Spoor, what is missing may be worth reading . . . or maybe not.



All of which apparently comes as a huge surprise to David Collenette, the former transport minister responsible for VIA rail at the same time Dingwall was secretly raking in the dough not lobbying cabinet ministers. ....the first Collenette heard of Dingwall's work for VIA.... 'That sounds totally bizarre' Greg Weston, Mar. 3, 05, Sun Ottawa

One of Dingwall's lasting achievements...Chuck Guite...

Chretien...$200,000 a year.

...a consulting gig paying $12,000 a month...VIA rail, a Crown corporation prohibited by law from hiring lobbyists. ....

...Montreal ad exec Jean ....chairman of VIA rail, Marc Lefrancois, ....

...nothing in VIA's books connecting ...

....not a lobbyist....gather intelligence ... provided advice to VIA rail.

... lobbying was to be done by VIA rail ...

...Crown corporations are prohibited from using tax money to hire outside muscle to lobby...

...cozy billing arrangement, ...came from VIA....submit his bills to Lafleur,....

All of which apparently comes as a huge surprise to David Collenette, the former transport minister responsible for VIA rail at the same time Dingwall was secretly raking in the dough not lobbying cabinet ministers.

....the first Collenette heard of ... VIA....

In 1998, no one was pushing ... increased VIA funding than Collenette was.

.... "never discussed anything to do with VIA."

....in patronage heaven: The Mint.

Memory Lane: Look out for your daughters

When I saw this, I thought of the woman who was abducted from the Skytrain platform in Vancouver, raped and beaten almost to death by a Somalian. Muslim Rape Epidemic in Sweden and Norway - Authorities Look the Other Way

Numbers released in January 2005 indicate a sharp rise in the number of rape charges in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city:

Thomas Anderberg, responsible for statistics at the Malmö Police, says there was a doubling of the number of reported rapes by ambush in 2004, following what was already a decade of steadily increasing numbers of sexual crimes.

[. . . . ] According to Swedish Radio on Tuesday, statistics from Sweden’s National Council for Crime Prevention show that the number of reported rapes against children is on the rise. The figures have nearly doubled in the last ten years: 467 rapes against children under the age of 15 were reported in 2004 compared with 258 in 1995. Legal proceedings continue this week in a case involving a 13 year old girl from Motala who was said to have been subjected to a group rape by four men. (Note: These four men were Kurdish Muslims, who raped the girl for hours and even took photos of doing so) [. . . . ]

I thought I had posted it but maybe not.

This is not a Christmas gift book but it is one I recommend reading after Christmas. Think of the other women who suffer under the rule and law of men: Burned Alive: A Survivor of an "Honor Killing" Speaks Out
by Souad (Author) (Paperback - May 13, 2005) -- or Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men by Souad (Author) (Hardcover - May 11, 2004)



Another discovery along the way to something else: PetroCan back in oilsands -- Partners with UTS in Fort Hills project two years after quitting earlier venture Claudia Cattaneo, Calgary Bureau Chief, Financial Post, week of Feb.2705-Mar5-05

Under the agreement, Petro-Canada will spend $900-million of the first $1-billion of development capital for the project near Fort McMurray, expected to cost $4-billion to $5-billion to get to 100,000 barrels a day of production.
The project has already received major regulatory approvals, fast-tracking development by up to two years. First oil is expected in 2009.

Corporate welfare is nothing but a shell game, and it is not just personal taxpayers who foot the bill. The government also takes money raised from one corporate taxpayer and gives it to another -- in other words, it subsidizes the competition. -- "Corporate welfare takes the wheel -- Automakers roll out the profits while Ontario's taxpayers foot the bill", Tasha Kheiriddin and John Williamson, Mar. 3, 05, Financial Post



Good cop, good cop March 3, 2005, National Post

Over the past decade, Russia has sent scientists, technology and equipment -- perhaps even plans -- to Iran for enriching uranium. Now, it is sending the actual uranium -- 90 tonnes worth. The atomic fuel is ostensibly to run the country's first-ever nuclear power plant at Bushehr, which is due to come online next year. But with 90 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (the sixth biggest supply of any country), Iran needs nuclear power like Nunavut needs cold. Tehran wants the fuel for one purpose only -- to build bombs. [. . . . ]

Feds announce another registry delay -- Ottawa defers regulations for police, gun-makers -- You may have the same efficiency and economy with a Liberal daycare bureaucracy. Aren't you fortunate to have the party that cares so much around?

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