Neda,an Iranian Martyr

Wikepedia Link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neda_(Iranian_protester)

Thats one brave woman

Increasingly, women's voices are gaining power as their numbers rise and their demands grow louder.

Even the granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the Islamic republic, voiced frustration at the way women are treated.

"Women are just living things," Zahra Eshraghi told Amanpour. "A woman is there to fill her husband's stomach and raise children."

Read the full story

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/19/iran.protests.women/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

What an Inspiration !

Jacksonville University's Harvey is bound for greatness

Natasha Harvey competes in the long jump at the Atlantic Sun Conference meet earlier this month.

·

As one of the greatest athletic careers in Jacksonville University history nears the finish line, track and field coach Ron Grigg wonders if he will ever be this lucky again.

Once Natasha Harvey completes her final long jump or sprint, either this week at the NCAA regionals in Greensboro, N.C., or at the NCAA championships June 10-13 in Arkansas, there will be a lot more to replace than her record times and distances. The near-impossible challenge for Grigg is filling the void that Harvey, a four-time All-American, will leave behind in terms of her overall impact on teammates and everyone she touched at the school.

Harvey, generally regarded by colleagues and school administrators as one of the most popular athletes to ever come through JU, cannot be measured simply on her ability to win races or outjump the competition.

Whether you spend a few minutes with Harvey or an entire day, most people feel it's not enough. Her engaging personality, like a comfortable sit-down on the couch with Oprah, leaves them wanting more. But peeling away all the layers of Harvey's tragic past, and how she refused to let it get in the way of her Olympic dream, helps to understand why this 21-year-old from West Haven, Conn., has been such an inspirational figure on the JU campus.

"It's the way she leads her life; she's the whole package," Grigg said. "She gets it more than most adults. Just when you think she's the most incredible person you ever met, there's something deeper. I don't want to sound gushing, but she's just that kind of a kid. She's an inspiration to watch how she handles situations.

"I'm supposed to be the authority figure by nature of being the coach, but there's so much I need to model after her. She has perspective. She chooses to act in a way that she's proud of the consequences."

By themselves, Harvey's athletic accomplishments make her a headliner. The Dolphins had never won a conference title in track and field before she arrived. With Harvey aboard, they went eight for eight in capturing Atlantic Sun indoor and outdoor championships, with Harvey accounting for 302 of the 1,327 points accumulated (22.7 percent) during that streak in six different events.

And here's the amazing part: Harvey could have easily fallen by the wayside, allowing difficult family circumstances to impede her path to greatness. She passed up scholarships to Penn State and Clemson to come to JU, stayed in Jacksonville after her half-brother was murdered, graduated cum laude with a 3.563 grade-point average, served as president of the student-athlete advisory committee, and was the first person in her family to attend college. It's all part of Harvey's fascinating journey.

"I had to reverse it," Harvey said. "I had to not allow everything to destroy me."

Where "everything" begins is probably when Natasha was 9, living in New Haven, Conn. A never-identified arsonist sent her house up in flames as she was sleeping.

The firefighters were amazed that all six people - Natasha's parents, along with her three siblings - got out alive. Natasha nearly died because the rest of family escaped and forgot about the little girl, who had to be rescued at the last second by her oldest half-brother, Carlos Ashe.

"In panic, they just escaped while I was asleep," Natasha said. "I remember [Carlos] waking me up and saying, "Baby girl, I'm going to get you out of here.' I watched my house burn down from across the street."

Sadly, that fire was only the beginning of a family unit breakdown. Natasha's father, who never married her mother, Theresa Ashe, went to live with his mother after the fire and grew apart from the family. He kept his distance from Natasha and her younger brother, Antonio, separating himself from his two kids with Theresa, leaving Natasha perplexed to this day why her father remains out of her life.

"We didn't really ask too much of him, except for his time," Natasha said. "I couldn't fathom why he didn't want to be my father, while I was trying so hard to be his child."

If only that was the extent of the hardship. But her two older half-brothers both got caught up, as Theresa says, "with the wrong crowd," and paid a heavy price for it.

In December 1996, at about the same time of the fire, a gang-related murder in New Haven led to the conviction of Carlos - in a second trial, following a mistrial - and three others on four counts, including murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Carlos, a child by Theresa's first marriage, remains incarcerated.

During Natasha's freshman year at JU, just as the indoor track season was beginning, her other half-brother, Steveland, was shot and killed near an uncle's house. While Natasha went home for a week to comfort her grieving family, she also had to cope with the pleas of Antonio - whom she helped raise while Theresa worked a job at a Walgreens - to either stay home or transfer to a school closer to West Haven.

"It was a huge deal for me to be so far away from my family," Natasha said. "And now, the family was disrupted [by Steveland's death] and [Antonio] felt alone. It was hard for us to get through it."

But that's the remarkable part of Harvey's 12-year road to get to this point. Somehow, through her faith and the support of Theresa, Antonio, several coaches and JU colleagues, she managed to get through a fire that destroyed her home, then having her family being ripped apart because of some questionable choices. Antonio, an accomplished dancer, is now a high school junior who has been invited to participate in an elite summer program at Wesleyan College.

"The thing about Natasha is she's never going to give up," said her mother, Theresa. "When Stevie got killed, and my other son was incarcerated, for her to leave [to go back to JU] was hard. But she understood she had to make her own life.

"She had to deal with a lot of stuff on her own. But if you don't learn how to push past the difficult times, you'll just be miserable because you wouldn't be able to function."

Natasha is quick to credit God and her coach at Career (Conn.) High, Kareem Jackson, with the guidance she needed to make sure that her potential as a track athlete and student wasn't wasted. Harvey remains close to Jackson and his entire family because they treated her like one of their own.

"[Jackson] played a man in my life who would accept me as his own daughter," Harvey said. "I've just recently found a freedom and peace with the fact my father hasn't been there, but God has taken care of me. He has given me great men in my life to fill the void that my father couldn't or wouldn't fill."

No matter what personal adversity she battled off the track, Harvey has pushed herself to excellence. She has won 22 different events at the A-Sun championships. She finished second in the long jump last year at the NCAA outdoor meet with a personal-best leap of 21 feet, 10 inches, beating out eventual Olympic bronze medalist Blessing Okagbare from Nigeria.

Except for a bulging disk that has flared up recently, which has limited her weightlifting regimen, Harvey is feeling uplifted. Natasha smiles at the memory of receiving her college diploma on May 2, with Theresa and Antonio in attendance.

And when someone asks her about what looks like an engagement ring on her left hand, Harvey can hardly contain her joy. For the record, it's not an engagement ring, but a "promise ring" that she recently bought for herself. This is how she explains its significance.

"It's a covenant between me and God," said Harvey. "It's my promise to him that I would save myself and stay in covenant until whoever it is that he's saving for me. I've laid it down. I don't want to say I'm picky [about what she wants in a future husband], but I am. He has to have a relationship with God and be driven, or we won't mesh well. He has to have goals and a plan in place about how he wants to achieve them."

Harvey has had a plan in place for her future ever since she long-jumped 21 feet for the first time as a JU freshman. She will move to the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, Calif., in October, and depending on how she fares at the NCAAs (Harvey is competing in the long jump, 100-meter hurdles and 4x100 relay), Harvey has a clear vision about where she hopes track can take her.

"I don't need a lavish life," Harvey said. "I'd like to take care of my mom and hope to have a shoe contract that will allow me to do that. I do have a passion to be part of a mentoring program for girls, something where I can help them have a life of self-respect for themselves and to take care of their bodies.

"The plan is to be part of the Olympic training program and see where that takes me. The 2012 Olympics [in London], that's where I want to be, contending for a spot on the [medal] podium. I know I have what it takes to get there."

Looking back at where Natasha Harvey has been, two things seems pretty certain: She will live a life of fulfilled promise and leave a favorable impression along the way.

I had nothing to do with tax deal, Mulroney says

I had nothing to do with tax deal, Mulroney says
Former PM distances himself from the 'pretty good deal' that let him pay tax on only half of the cash he got from Schreiber
Brian Mulroney was required to pay income tax on only half of the $225,000 in cash he accepted from lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber, thanks to a "pretty good deal" offered to the former prime minister by Canada Revenue Agency, a public inquiry heard yesterday.

Read the story here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090520.MULRONEY20ART2231/TPStory/National

    "Honestly Officer,I was just along for the ride"

"a catastrophe"

Reactor shutdown 'catastrophe' as medical isotopes dry up

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
May 19, 2009
OTTAWA — A shutdown of the Canadian nuclear reactor that produces much of the world's medical isotopes is a “catastrophe” that threatens to delay or cancel critical medical procedures both in Canada and abroad for many weeks, medical experts said Tuesday.

The aging reactor at Chalk River, Ont., which has been plagued with problems in recent years, will be closed for at least a month as technicians repair a leak of heavy water.

“It's a catastrophe. For 18 months I have refrained from using that word. I have to use it,” said Jean-Luc Urbain, the president of the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine. “It's a catastrophe for the patients, for the health-care system in general, and for the profession.”

Read the article  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090519.chalk20/BNStory/Front/home

And what politician will take responsibility for this mess? 

Bosnian killer free in Canada

Mayor 'furious' Bosnian killer free in Calgary

A fugitive from Bosnia wanted back in that country for an execution-style double murder in 1992 is a Calgary business owner, a taxpayer, and he has two Canadian-born children,  according to his lawyer.

 

Gavin Grant says 37-year-old Elvir Pobric has no criminal record and has been living here under his own name.

Pobric is free after being released in between hearings with Immigration Board officials.

His presence in Canada - and his past - came to light when one of his victims' relatives alerted police that he was here.

Pobric was serving 20 years in a Bosnian jail for killing two men and then burning their bodies.  He escaped in 1996 and arrived in Canada 3 years later.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1122420.html

Canada,land of the free.....disgusting isn't it

Updated link to Missing Victoria Stafford Poster

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n64/paris_images/posterwk.jpg

This is a town without pity

WOODSTOCK, ONT This is a town without pity.

It wasn't always like this.

When Victoria Stafford, known as Tori, disappeared from Woodstock on April 8, the town of 35,000 people did what towns typically do – rallied together and scoured streets, parks, ponds and surrounding areas looking for her. Terrified of what might have happened, people posted thousands of posters showing Tori's smiling face.

Four weeks later, the posters are still there – some frayed, others fading – but anger has replaced fear and gossip has taken over from populist efforts to find Tori.

Meanwhile, Rodney Stafford knows small towns can be big-hearted, and alternately pitiless. "I'm very grateful to everyone who has helped look for Tori. I have no complaints."


I don't personally know Rodney Stafford but in regards to his comment I say "Amen" to that.

Mothers day for Tara McDonald

A painful first for Tori Stafford's mom: Mother's Day likely without her daughter

34 minutes ago

WOODSTOCK, Ont. — Since becoming a mom, Tara McDonald has spent every Mother's Day with her two children by her side. But with her eight-year-old daughter Victoria Stafford missing for a month now, McDonald hopes for just one thing this Sunday: to get her daughter back.

"I just wish these people, this person, whoever it is, would just bring her home - let her go," she said Wednesday at a news conference outside her home.

McDonald fondly recalled the Mother's Day card that her daughter - who every calls Tori - made for her last year, and said she will likely spend this Sunday at her mother's place with her 11-year-old son Daryn.

"I really hope to have my child home for Mother's Day," she said.

Tori has missing since April 8, when she didn't return home after school.

Massive search efforts have continued throughout this small southwestern Ontario city, but local and provincial police have failed to turn up significant clues into her suspected abduction.

Standing outside McDonald's tiny white-panelled house, Tori's parents looked the same as they said they felt: drained.

"I'm just at the frustrated point," said McDonald, her pale face framed by large sunglasses that couldn't hide the fact she was on the verge of tears.

"I've hit the sad, the angry. I'm totally frustrated. My main concern is our daughter. Who has her? Is she being taken care of? And why is it that you want our child?"

Rodney Stafford, the girl's father who is separated from McDonald, joined her at Wednesday's news conference, wearing a homemade T-shirt emblazoned with "Daddy's Little Girl" and adorned with a painting he'd created of floating purple balloons and Tori's photo placed just below his heart.

Stafford said questions about his daughter's whereabouts stream through his head "all day, every day."

Tori's parents have continued to speak about the bubbly blond girl in hopes of keeping the case in the public eye, but like police, they too had no new information to share Wednesday.

The Grade 3 pupil was last seen in a grainy surveillance video walking with a dark-haired woman wearing a puffy white coat.

Police say they've determined the girl and her suspected abductor were walking away from her school and toward the parking lot of a nearby nursing home.

Investigators say they have received more than 2,500 tips since releasing a video this week of a dark-coloured car they are calling "a vehicle of interest." They're eager to speak to the car's driver, who passed by the abduction scene moments after Tori disappeared.

A police investigator joined the media Wednesday to record the parents' news conference on video.

"It doesn't bother me, I don't really think about it," McDonald said when asked what she thought of the surveillance, adding she believes "police are doing what they can," in the search for Tori.

The officer later explained he's been sent to several of the news conferences to collect information.

A $50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever abducted Tori.

A composite sketch of the woman seen on the video suggests the abductor may be 19 to 25 years old, about five feet one, weighing around 125 pounds, with long dark hair tightly pulled back in a ponytail.

Tori's disappearance has also been featured on the TV show "America's Most Wanted."

 Add News to your iGoogle Homepage

H1N1 Tracker Map

Web Link http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/

Former Woodstock minister charged

A former Woodstock minister was charged Wednesday with sexual assault and sexual exploitation following a complaint from an alleged victim late last week,

David Woodall, a Woodstock resident and the former minister at St. David's United Church, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual exploitation and one count of sexual interference. Following an afternoon appearance, the 53-year-old was released on bail.

Woodall is scheduled to appear at Goderich Provincial Court on June 15 to answer to these charges.

The Huron County OPP criminal investigations unit began its investigation of these allegations on April 25 after receiving a complaint from a male victim, who claimed the church minister had sexually assaulted him several years ago. The original complaint led to additional information about the alleged assault and a second victim.

Both incidents stem from separate "youth" sleepover program that were organized as church functions. The first incident allegedly occurred in Clinton, Ont., in 1991-1992 while the second incident allegedly happened at MacGreggor Provincial Park in Bruce County's Saugeen Township. While the two victims are now adults, both were pre-teens at the time of the alleged offences.

Woodall served as minister at the Clinton United Church from 1985 to 1994. Following an eight-year stint as minister of London's Hyde Park United Church, Woodall served in Woodstock from 2002 to 2006. Since his time at St. David's, Woodall has served as the executive secretary for the United Church's London Conference, which is comprised of eight area presbyteries.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact the Huron County OPP's criminal investigation unit at 519-524-8314 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Mom spins 'crazy' tale of ransom, limo ride

Wed, April 29, 2009

The mother of missing eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford raised more questions than provided answers yesterday trying to explain an admittedly "crazy" tale of a secret limousine ride and offer of ransom money.

Oxford police, who last night announced a $50,000 reward in the case, refused outright to address the credibility of Tara McDonald's tale that she said took place last Thursday.

But a former Toronto abduction investigator said it's unlikely any ransom deal would be set up the way McDonald and her mysterious benefactor described it -- with money provided after Tori is returned safe and sound.

"It's ridiculous," said Dave Perry, a former Toronto police officer with 27 years experience.

Perry questioned the idea of ransom being part of the abduction at all.




"I find it odd she (McDonald) would be walking down that road, talking about ransom. Are they going to take that child from that family for money? A ransom, you have to have the ability to pay."

The focus on the investigation is likely still a family dispute, not a random kidnapping, Perry said.

"That's what I would be focusing on."

Oxford police announced last night they are offering a $50,000 reward in the case of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, last seen April 8.

Tori was abducted April 8 while walking home from her Woodstock elementary school.

Investigators released video footage from a security camera at a nearby high school showing Tori walking with an unidentified woman.

McDonald said yesterday she knows her story about meeting a benefactor is a strange one.

"People are going to think we are nuts," she said.

Last Thursday, a limousine parked around the corner from her house on Dover Street while the driver sneaked past reporters into her backyard, she said.

The driver offered to take her to Toronto to meet a mysterious and wealthy person.

"They said the person just wanted to speak with me."

McDonald said she thought she was going to meet television psychic Sylvia Browne, whom she had tried to contact earlier.

The limousine came back at 5 p.m. and drove her, her brother, boyfriend James Goris and a friend named Sarah to the Sheraton Gateway Hotel near Pearson International Airport.

She went up to a room by herself and spoke for about two hours with the person, McDonald said.

The person explained their child had been abducted for a ransom, but killed after police advised against paying it.

"They didn't want me to have to go through that," McDonald said.

The person offered to pay whatever ransom was sought in return for Tori, and gave McDonald two phone numbers for any kidnappers to call.

"When they bring my daughter back safely, whatever they ask for is going to be deposited into a safe account for them," McDonald said.

Pressed by reporters yesterday, McDonald said she did not ask for or receive the name of the person.

Nor would she reveal the person's sex or colour, or allow reporters to listen to the answering machine for the phone numbers.

McDonald said she had no doubts about the mystery person's offer. The person held up a keepsake from their dead child.

"They had a little baggie of hair the same colour as my daughter's and that broke my heart. It was someone genuine."

To prove the ride took place, she held up photos taken on her iPhone of inside the limousine.

Tori's father, Rodney Stafford, was not invited on the ride.

"If somebody is willing to help, that's great," Stafford said yesterday.

Oxford police announced the reward hours after McDonald revealed her story about the mysterious benefactor.

Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland, an Oxford police spokesperson, said the two events aren't linked.

"I know it doesn't come across like that," Maitland said.

"We're hopeful that this incentive will be the catalyst for anyone with information to come forward."

Reward for Tori?

Tori's mom assumed limo would take her to psychic

Updated: Tue Apr. 28 2009 3:17:15 PM

Victoria Stafford's mother thought renowned psychic Sylvia Browne had come to give her a clue about her missing daughter's whereabouts.

Instead, the mystery guest who requested to speak to Tara MacDonald Thursday afternoon is an anonymous person who is offering the eight-year-old child's captors a reward for her safe return.

Victoria has been missing from her Woodstock, Ont. town for 20 days.

MacDonald told reporters on Tuesday she didn't know what to believe when a limo driver knocked at her door and told her that his wealthy boss wanted to speak with her.

The driver had apparently walked through the woman's backyard, far away from the prying eyes of reporters who were camped out front.

"(It all sounds) crazy? I know," she said. "I thought that we were going to see Sylvia Browne."

MacDonald said she has left a message for Browne, wanting to speak to her about Victoria's disappearance.

But it wasn't Browne. Rather, it was an anonymous traveller who had a stopover in Toronto wanted to help after seeing the case on TV.

This person, who MacDonald has refused to describe because of her promise to keep them anonymous, has reportedly also lost a child to a kidnapping.

MacDonald said the person was told by police not to pay a ransom demand for their child and as a result their child was killed.

"They didn't want that to happen to me," MacDonald said. "They said it was fate and that they wanted to help."

MacDonald said she, her boyfriend and best friend travelled to see the stranger in Toronto, at the Sheraton Hotel located by Pearson International Airport. A limousine was provided for them for their travel.

MacDonald said she was the only one who went upstairs to talk to the stranger and when she did, she stayed for about two hours.

MacDonald said she told police about the encounter and forwarded a number to authorities that has been set up to facilitate the transaction should it be necessary.

So far, both police and MacDonald say there have been no ransom demands.

Victoria's father Rodney Stafford stood next to MacDonald while she spoke to reporters.

He said he only heard about the trip to Toronto from MacDonald after it happened and that he wished he went along to meet the stranger.

"If someone is willing to help then that's great, Other than that, I don't know anything about it other than what Tara has told me," he said.

MacDonald said she's well aware the story sounds "crazy" and that people are speculating about the encounter.

"A lot of weird things have taken place (since Victoria disappeared)," she said. "A lot of weird messages, a lot of weird letters. It's not any more weird than anything else that has happened."

Victoria, known as "Tori" by close family and friends, has been missing since April 8. She was last seen walking away from her school with a woman whom police have not been able to identify.

Victoria's Mother Took Polygraph Test

Monday, April 27, 200

The mother of a missing eight-year-old Woodstock girl says she will take another polygraph test.

Tara McDonald admitted on Monday she broke down after police administered the test three days after Victoria Stafford disappeared.

McDonald told reporters "I ended up breaking, and I ended up leaving, so it's not because they didn't give me the results of my polygraph test, and it's not because I had anything to hide."

Victoria has not been seen since she left school on April 8.

No Jail Time for This?

Charges laid in alleged generic drug resale scheme
 
Apr 27, 2009 06:28 PM
Several pharmacies, drug makers and wholesalers in Ontario are facing criminal charges and $34 million in fines in an alleged scheme that saw them profit from reselling generic prescription drugs – a practice that may be at work in other provinces, health officials said Monday.

The scheme not only endangered public safety by making it difficult to track the products, but also drove up the cost of many prescription drugs through illegal rebates, said assistant deputy health minister Helen Stevenson.

"This is a national issue, that generic prices are so high," she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"The reason that we can't get lower prices is because (drug manufacturers) are paying such huge allowances to pharmacies."

Seven drug companies and four wholesalers based in Ontario and Quebec were fined for allegedly paying for or receiving excessive rebates for drug purchases, which were discovered during a five-month probe by Ontario's Health Ministry.

Wholesalers Amerisource Bergen Corp. Canada, Kohl and Frisch Ltd., A.O.C. Company Ltd. and Pharmastop are facing fines totalling $26 million.

The province has also filed complaints with Health Canada against A.O.C., Kohl and Frisch, Amerisource, Pharmastop and RxSource over suspected violations of regulations related to public safety.

Drug makers Taro Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Inc., Genpharm Inc., Novopharm Ltd., Ratiopharm Inc., Pharmascience Ltd. and Sandoz Canada Inc. were also fined by the province.

One pharmacy – Kohler's Drug Store Ltd. in Hamilton – is facing $4.4 million in fines and four charges for allegedly providing false or misleading information, or obstructing an inspection.

Sixteen other charges were laid against Ratiopharm, a wholesaler whose name was not immediately disclosed, and three people – charges that could lead to jail time if they're convicted in court, officials said.

The Ontario College of Pharmacists has also been asked to investigate the conduct of A.O.C, Best Drug Mart, Markland Wood Pharmacy Ltd. and Symington Drugs.

There may be more fines and charges to come, as the investigation is not yet complete, Stevenson said.

"We don't yet know exactly how extensive a problem it is that we've uncovered, but we do most certainly know that it's a problem," she said.

Ontario, like other provinces, allows generic drug makers to pay pharmacies a fee for buying their prescription drugs.

In 2006, the government tabled a bill that capped the so-called ``professional allowances" to 20 per cent of sales for public drug plans, and required that the money be spent on activities that benefit patients, such as blood pressure clinics. There are no caps on allowances paid on drugs dispensed under private plans.

The probe found that some pharmacies and wholesalers were allegedly abusing the system by ordering more drugs than they needed and collecting the rebates from manufacturers, only to sell the drugs they didn't need back to wholesalers.

The wholesalers then sold the drugs to another pharmacy, triggering another rebate.

Manufacturers reported they paid out $332 million in such fees over six months, while pharmacies said they'd received only $145 million, Stevenson said.

In one case, a drug maker reported it had paid $5 million to one pharmacy, but the pharmacy said it got nothing. Another pharmacy claimed it spent the money on 1,600 clinic days – five clinics for each day of the year.

The system was designed so that drug companies, wholesalers and pharmacies all made money, while patients had access to drugs at ``manageable prices," Stevenson said.

"I believe the system was working until corporations and some individuals decided to undermine it," she added.

Similar schemes could very well be at work in other provinces, Health Minister David Caplan said.

Ontario is working with other provinces to develop a co-ordinated strategy to deal with the problem, he said.

"We will be sharing the result of these audits with counterparts from around the country," he said. "As I say, this is a pan-Canadian problem."

Three pharmacies may have their licences to dispense drugs under the public plan revoked, and full-scale audits may be ordered for 51 pharmacies, as well as one wholesaler and a generic drug maker, Stevenson said.

Consumers should not be concerned that the drugs they've purchased aren't safe, she said. The main concern was that in the event of a product recall, the scheme would make it difficult to track individual batches of drugs.

Caplan said the province is considering several options to improve the system, including eliminating the professional allowances.

"The implications of these revelations are considerable," he said.

"The ill-gotten rebates come from the pockets of taxpayers, our public drug plan and employers already struggling in the midst of an incredible economic challenge."

Mystery Person Offers Cash For Safe Return Of Victoria Stafford

Monday April 27, 2009

It's been 19 days since Victoria Stafford was abducted while walking home from school, and her mother, Tara McDonald, now believes a perfect stranger may be the key to bringing her daughter home alive and well.

McDonald says that while the media was camped out on her front lawn waiting for her daily update, a limousine driver walked through her yard and knocked on her back door.  When she answered he said he had a wealthy boss who wanted to meet her.

So Tara, her boyfriend, brother, and best friend, got into the limo.

"I felt calm with him. I didn't feel nervous," she explained.

She then claims the limo took them to the Sheraton hotel near Pearson airport.  She then says she went alone to a suite on a top floor and met a person who insisted they must remain anonymous.

The person said their own child was abducted and killed, and that they wanted to help.

"They just landed in Toronto, turned on the news and saw the story and wanted to do something," she adds.

That something is apparently money --- any sum Victoria's kidnapper's want.

Even though there has been no ransom demand, McDonald now hopes this offer of money will bring her little girl back home. 

In the meantime, police are looking into the offer.

  

'We have to assume' swine flu is in Ontario, health official warns

Passengers in Mexico City's subway wear masks to guard against infection April 24, 2009. Health experts advise regular hand washing as another precaution.

A new strain of never-before-seen influenza that has surfaced in Mexico and in parts of the U.S. has international health authorities on guard and sparked fears of a worldwide flu pandemic.

Health officials yesterday confirmed the severe respiratory illness that has killed more than 60 people in Mexico appears, in some cases, to be genetically similar to the eight cases of swine flu reported in parts of Texas and Southern California.

The new strain of swine influenza is likely already in Ontario, said Dr. Michael Gardam, one of Ontario's top infectious disease specialists, because about 60,000 people return to the province from Mexico every month.

"We have to assume that it is circulating in Ontario," he said. "You just have to look at air travel patterns to realize that what goes on in Mexico has to come to Canada."

With the spectre of SARS still looming over the Toronto area, local infectious disease experts are emphasizing the new strain of swine flu should not be compared to the severe acute respiratory syndrome that swept the city in 2003 and killed 44 people.

"It is a different virus from what we've seen before," said Gardam, who is director of infectious diseases prevention and control at the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. "But that is not a comment on how easily it is spread and how sick it would make you."

Scientists around the world are moving quickly to uncover more details of the novel swine flu, a combination of human, swine and avian viruses not previously detected in pigs or humans and which can be spread from human to human. Health officials stress public health alerts and recommendations will change as new facts emerge.

"Our concern has grown since yesterday in light of what we have learned since then," Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control, said at a news teleconference yesterday.

No cases of swine flu have been reported in Canada, and officials said only a "handful" of cases are under investigation here.

The Mexican government has reported more than 900 cases of severe respiratory illness, or SRI, and 62 related deaths, according to a release from the World Health Organization. As of Thursday, there were 854 cases of SRI and 59 deaths in Mexico City, 24 cases and three deaths in San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, and four cases in Mexicali, near the U.S. border.

Canadian scientists at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg confirmed 16 of the Mexican cases are Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses. The lab received 51 samples from Mexico on Wednesday.

Besser said the CDC found 12 cases are genetically identical to the A/H1N1 viruses from California, where six cases were confirmed in two counties next to the Mexican border. Two more cases have turned up in San Antonio, Tex., and nine cases are under investigation.

The majority of infected individuals in the U.S. had mild symptoms – only one person was kept in hospital – and all have since recovered.

The strain of swine flu is sensitive to antiviral drugs, including the anti-flu drug Tamiflu. Scientists are working to decode the entire DNA of the virus, and the CDC is developing a vaccine.

Canadian and U.S. health officials have not issued travel advisories to California, Texas or Mexico. Public health experts are asking potential travellers to protect themselves from influenza as they would anywhere else at home and abroad by using precautionary measures, such as regular hand washing.

Infectious disease specialists worldwide are worried the new strain of swine flu could lead to an influenza pandemic. Right now, officials say the most concerning factors are the human-to-human spread of an animal influenza virus, that clusters of cases are geographically separated, and that otherwise healthy young adults seem to be most affected by the virus.

Besser said the WHO is convening a group of experts to determine whether the pandemic threat level should be changed. Currently, the world is at level 3 out of a possible six levels, with the sixth level indicating a pandemic.

Mexico's government cancelled classes for millions of children and university students in Mexico City and the surrounding area yesterday. Large concert venues, libraries and museums were also closed.

Dr. Alison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital, said it is too early to judge whether the swine flu will turn into a pandemic.

"The critical question of whether it's going to be a pandemic is whether it's going to spread to other countries and how much it's already spread in Mexico," she said. "We simply don't know that today."

Family torn on fundraising

Fri, April 24, 2009
THE ABDUCTION OF TORI STAFFORD: News of door-to-door efforts has raised concerns some may be taking advantage of the abduction for personal gain

Cracks are beginning to open between the two families of missing eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford over fundraising efforts in the little girl's name.

The father's side of the family pleaded with the public yesterday to stop raising or donating money and focus on the search for the girl, last seen April 8 after school.

"The only thing we want people to be spending is their time and effort," said Rebecca Stafford, Tori's aunt.

The Stafford family has been horrified to learn people are going door to door with jars plastered with Tori's picture, she said.

"We are afraid people are taking advantage of this for their own personal gain."

The family had earlier supported a trust fund set up to help Tori and her brother Daryn get counselling.

But Tori's grandmother's employer, Cami Automotive Inc., has agreed to pay for counselling, Stafford said.

Stafford also expressed concerns about a second fund created this week to help the mother's side of the family pay for phone bills and lost wages.

"I don't know what to say to that other than . . . with public money here comes a great deal of responsibility."

Tori's parents are divorced but have until now presented a unified face over the search for their daughter.

Tori's mother, Tara McDonald, dealt with questions about fundraising at an earlier news conference yesterday.

"I don't have a clue how much has been raised. I don't take care of that. It goes into a trust fund for Daryn and Victoria."

McDonald also dealt yesterday with questions about a composite sketch released by police two days ago.

The sketch is of the woman seen in a surveillance video walking with Tori at 3:23 p.m. after school April 8, based on someone who saw her in person.

Tori's father, Rodney Stafford, thinks the woman looks like a former high school classmate but McDonald does not recognize the woman.

McDonald explained yesterday she and Rodney went to different high schools.

At least one other Stafford family member agrees with Rodney, but others have different beliefs, Rebecca Stafford said yesterday.

Tori knows all the people the family suspects, Stafford said.

Police yesterday would not comment on the tips received from the composite sketch.

Tori Stafford suspect

Sketch released by police of Tori Stafford suspect


Police have released what they say is a composite image of the woman seen in a video with Tori Stafford, the 8-year-old abducted two weeks ago.

The woman is said to be 19 to 25 years old, around 5-foot-1 and about 125 pounds with long black hair worn in a ponytail.

A news conference has been called for 10 a.m. today in Woodstock.

Oxford Community Police Chief Ron Fraser asked residents to review the image and call them with information.

In a surveillance video recorded near her school the day of the abduction, Tori was last seen walking with the unidentified woman who wore a white puffy winter jacket and tight black jeans.

The OPP was called in to help in the investigation of the girl who has been missing since April 8.

Now armed with more information and an image of the main suspect, police have organized information to be aired Saturday on the TV show America's Most Wanted.

Release of the sketch follows another appeal by the girl's mother to the kidnapper.

"I don't understand, but just let her go. She doesn't deserve this," Tara McDonald said.

CFL

Consider this - instead of saving the environment, CFLs are actually destroying it. CFLs should be thought of as toxic technology, when mercury contamination, ultraviolet radiation, and radio frequency radiation are factored in. From cradle to grave, CFLs pose a danger to people’s health and well being, as well as adding even more toxicity to the environment. In fact, CFLs do not reduce a person’s carbon footprint and may even increase it in some situations. To make matters even worse, CFLs emit harmful levels of electromagnetic radiation.

Starting in the year 2012, regular incandescent bulbs, the ones invented by Thomas Edison over 100 years ago, will be banned in Canada in the pursuit of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, contrary to popular belief, switching from regular bulbs to CFLs could increase global energy consumption, not reduce it. If that alone does not shake consumer confidence, perhaps the facts that CFLs contain mercury and also emit electromagnetic radiation might give people a wake-up call up to the truth about CFLs.

On the other hand, since CFL producers are being handed a monopoly in the light bulb market by some federal government and are being cheered on by corporatist environmental groups, sales are not about to drop anytime soon.

It seems like the protectors of the environment have jumped ship. Health Canada is simply not doing its job as they ignore the devastating impact of having millions of CFLs in our environment. Why are they sitting by, and allowing the Canadian government to force its citizens to use them?

To make matters even worse, groups such as the Suzuki Foundation and Greenpeace, whom Canadians have come to rely on to protect them from environmental pollutants, have chosen to ignore the potential looming environmental and health risks, and blindly promote the use of CFLs.

Why have environmentalists and the government joined in an alliance with the electrical industry in promoting an undeniably dangerous product? Whose side are they on anyway?

Canadian Health and Safety officials seem to be asleep at the switch, oblivious of the hazards, and environmentalists appear to have sold out, as manufacturers and sellers of CFLs are laughing all the way to the bank.  With impunity “los tres amigos”, the manufacturers, the corporatist environmentalist backers and government, are leaving misled consumers to deal with the aftermath of a potential environmental catastrophe.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government, citing concerns about CFLs lack of efficiency and safety, has lifted its ban on incandescent bulbs.  Hopefully other governments will see the wisdom in this decision and follow suit.

Corporatist Environmentalists

Corporatism is the dominant ideology in today’s western democracies. “While the corporatist society maintains a veneer of open criticism and democracy, it squelches opposition to dominant corporate interests by using propaganda and rhetoric to obscure facts and to deter communication among citizens. Corporatism creates conformists who behave like cogs in organizational hierarchies, not responsible citizens,” explains Publishers Weekly, reviewing the book Voltaire’s Bastards by John Ralston Saul. These are just some of the attributes of the ideology that has a strangle hold on our society and, it appears, on our major environmental groups as well.

The environment is too important to be left solely to the environmentalists.

Environmentalists with corporatist tendencies can cause a lot of harm when they are not properly scrutinized and held accountable by the public. They have played a huge role in keeping consumers in the dark regarding the hazards posed by CFLs. The Suzuki Foundation and Greenpeace claim that CFLs are good for the environment and no one dares to challenge them.

The disinformation process begins when public awareness of a harmful product, such as a CFL, is restricted by environmental groups. Over time, with no real criticism of the product, a consensus consciousness is created in the public mind that the product is safe.  Finally, in one of the oldest tricks in the book, corporations use these groups as third party endorsers to create a favourable image of a potentially dangerous product. Remember back in the sixties with doctors in TV adds smoking Camel cigarettes?

The evidence that shows that CFLs are hazardous to humans is undeniable. The question is, why are environmental groups willing to risk a safe environment and their reputations by promoting a toxic product?

CFLs Are A Hazardous Product & Do Not Save Energy

It may surprise many people to know that CFLs increase a consumer’s carbon footprint in a ‘cradle to grave’ analysis. Full costs to manufacture, operate and safely dispose of a CFL have never been disclosed to the public. The reality is that residential lighting takes up only 0.8% of energy consumption in Canada.

CFLs are energy hogs to produce, operate and dispose of. Reducing a consumer’s carbon footprint is the CFL’s raison d’être.  But before deciding to switch over to compact florescent lights it would be wise to first review a cradle to grave analysis of the carbon footprint of a CFL, compared to an incandescent bulb.

What is the real energy cost of a CFL?  What does it cost to mine, manufacture, package, ship, sell, operate, dispose of CFLs on the environment? These are questions ignored by CFL promoters.

An International Association for Energy-Efficient Lighting (IAEEL) study conducted in Denmark, explored some carbon footprint factors, but not all, showing it took 1.8 Kwh of electricity to assemble a CFL compared to 0.11 Kwh to assemble an incandescent bulb.  That means it took 16 times more energy to produce a CFL. The study did not include the fact that a CFL is much heavier and is more dangerous to handle, and will thus cost more to package, to ship, and to sell.

This research also did not calculate the energy required to safely dispose of a CFL and reclaim the mercury. The cost of removing mercury from the landfills was also not considered. More over, the potential cost in destroyed lives, illnesses, and lost human productivity due to exposure to mercury and electromagnetic radiation have not been considered.

If such a study could be done, and considered all the negative contributing factors, it would show a CFL has a massive carbon footprint, one that would dwarf a regular incandescent light bulb and it would also show that CFLs will leave behind a wake of environmental destruction.

CFLs Do Not Save On Energy Consumption

Power Factor
An incandescent bulb has a power factor of 1. Most CFLs sold in Canada have a power factor of about 0.55.  That means there are about 45% more energy losses in operating the CFL compared to an incandescent bulb.  This does not show up on a power bill but the power company has to supply about 45% more power than what the bulb is rated for. Astonishingly, CFLs can take almost twice as much energy to operate than what is on the label and still be listed as an energy star product, something few consumers know. CFL cheerleaders seldom tell consumers that the power factor is not included in their energy consumption calculations.

Heat Loss
Energy efficient bulbs increase greenhouse gases. Because they burn cooler, they cause home heating costs to rise. "Lighting regulations (banning incandescent lights) will increase GHG emissions in Hydro’s service territory by 45,000 tons due to cross effects of a switch to cool-burning bulbs,” explained a BC Hydro spokesperson in 2009 Vancouver Sun article.

The ‘cross effect’ referred to is the loss of heat from hotter incandescent bulbs when we switch over to cooler burning CFLs.  When a 60watt regular bulb is replaced with a 15 watt CFL, 45watts of heat from inside a house is lost. If that is repeated 20 times, 900watts of lost heat now has to be provided for from another source.

To make up for the lost heat consumers have to turn up electric heating, or worse still, turning up their oil or gas furnace which will leave them consuming even more energy and creating more greenhouse gases than before they made the switch.  In the summertime, because of longer natural daytime light, both lighting and heating are used much less. In the wintertime power consumption will rise as lights go on but additional substitution heat is required to compensate for less heat from the CFLs.

Considering the lower power factor as well as the heating losses, it can be concluded that using CFL will not reduce a consumer’s carbon footprint when compared to a regular light bulb. Moreover, instead of saving energy there is good evidence demonstrating that using CFLs will increase the user’s carbon footprint.

CFLs Are Dumb Power

Lighting is a fraction of overall energy consumption and has a limited potential for energy savings.  Nevertheless, North Americans should be conserving wherever possible.  At the same time, people should not forget that switching incandescent bulbs to CFLs poses a whole range of negative environmental and health impacts with very little, if any, energy savings

An electric hot water tank consumes five times as much electricity as residential lighting.

To put lighting energy consumption into perspective, the Sector Sustainability Table listed in the Government of Canada website reports that  “Homes consume 16% of all the energy used in Canada, with lighting using 5% of that figure. Residential lighting therefore represents 0.8% of the total energy consumption in Canada. This means that Canadians are spending millions of dollars on CFLs in a fruitless effort to reduce a fraction of their energy consumption.”

It would be much ‘power smarter’ to focus on residential water heating than light bulbs.  An electric hot water tank consumes five times as much electricity as residential lighting. If hot water heating was made 10% more efficient by using inexpensive technology already available, Canadians would save more energy than the most wildly optimistic predictions of savings by CFL promoters. It would be cheaper, simpler, and have no detrimental environmental effects.

CFLs Are Mercury Polluters

More than 98% of used CFLs end up in landfills each year. That is 675 million for the year 2007 according to theNational Geographic Society. Each CFL contains about 5 milligrams of elemental mercury as well as other poisonous gases.  When mercury enters water sources, biological processes change the chemical form to methylmercury which is the organic, more toxic form found in fish.  Methylmercury bio-accumulates through the food chain and once in the body can affect developing fetuses, children and adult nervous systems.

Methylmercury will not stay in landfills as it easily gets transported through the water table. Throwing CFLs into landfills will contaminate the soil, the water table and eventually the air.

More than 60,000 children are born each year in the United States with neurodevelopment impairments caused by exposure in the womb to methylmercury compounds, according to new estimates by an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Science’s Year 2000.

Beware of a broken CFL, as each broken lamp should be considered similar to a toxic spill and care needs to be taken cleaning them up. The manufacturing of CFLs also exposes workers to toxic levels of mercury. CFLs are manufactured mostly in China with virtually no health, safety, or environmental protection regulations.  Ironically, most of the electricity used to manufacture CFLs comes from coal-fired generators. As CFLs increase in popularity, mercury exposure to workers, to electricians, to maintenance personal, to consumers, to water supplies, and to the living environment, will go ahead almost unchecked.

How many resources and pollutants does it take to make a light bulb?

 “The reality is, even energy-efficient products don’t always come from energy-efficient beginnings.  Consider for a second what goes into producing, powering and transporting products around the world like...energy efficient light bulbs. Until they are manufactured in a carbon-neutral way, transported on low-emission vehicles and powered in our homes by cleaner energy—green products will never be as green as they can be,” explained theWorld Wild Life Fund in MacLean’s Magazine.

Many environmentalists ignore these facts and instead claim that CFLs put less mercury into the environment than what would have been created via a smoke stack to generate the additional electricity needed for regular light bulbs.  This is not true.  Not all electricity is generated by dirty coal-fired plants. Even if it was, this would still be an irrelevant point given that coal fired power plants could operate with 80% less mercury emissions. In any event, it does not apply to BC where 90% of electrical power comes from hydroelectric dams according to BC Hydro. In Canada, 58% of electrical generation is from hydro and 19% from coal, according to Industry Canada.

CFLs Are Electro-Polluters

CFLs emit electromagnetic radiation, a type of energy that can make people very sick. Many people have reported skin rashes and irritation due to ultra-violet (UV) radiation. Radio frequency radiation is even more of a concern.  The effects of exposure to radio frequency radiation, as well as to high voltage spikes and transients, are known to cause illness, are virtually ignored by environmental groups and green building consultants alike.

There has been a ‘rash’ of health problems associated with exposure to electromagnetic radiation such as that emitted by CFLs.

In Sweden, according to polls, up to 290,000 people, or more than 3% of the population, have reported suffering symptoms of EHS when exposed to electromagnetic radiation.  Symptoms range from joint stiffness, chronic fatigue, headaches, tinnitus, respiratory, gastric, skin, sleep and memory problems, depressive tendencies, to Alzheimer’s disease and all classes of cancer.

Hope For The Future

Other than the World Wildlife Fund, almost all the major environmental groups have not informed the public about the dark side of CFLs. Why they behave as they do is unknown but promoting CFLs could potentially diminish these groups credibility when the facts become apparent.

Hopefully, other governments will wake up to the shortcomings of CFLs, and follow the New Zealand government’s example and change their policies on banning incandescent lights due to concerns about safety and energy efficiency of the CFLs. Germany has already restricted the use of fluorescent lighting in public places and has banned fluorescent lights in hospitals perhaps showing that this issue is too great to be shrugged off and ignored. North America appears to be headed in the opposite direction and the Canadian Federal government still plans to ban all incandescent lights before year 2012.

There are incandescent light bulbs on the market right now that last longer than CFLs and are 80% more efficient than a regular bulb.  In 2010, surprisingly, just as the market gets saturated with CFLs, General Electric is coming out with a new high efficiency incandescent bulb. They claim it will be twice as efficient as a regular bulb.

If they live up to their claims these new incandescent lights will rival CFLs for energy consumption, but will not have all the other environmental problems. Then another buying craze will begin and CFLs may begin to be phased out, leaving behind a long-term problem of mercury disposal, remediation, and an untold toll on human health.

In the meantime, the best way for you to reduce your carbon footprint is to follow your mother’s advice and turn the lights off when you leave the room.

Walt McGinnis is a Licensed Electrician and an Electromagnetic Radiation Tester and a member of the EM Radiation Task Force, living on Vancouver Island, Canada. Visit: http://www.mcginniselectric.ca/