The Province

OTTAWA — The Obama administration wants Canadians to pay to enter the United States to help ease that country’s desperate financial crunch.

A proposed “passenger inspection” fee is outlined in the draft 2012 U.S. federal budget that has been sent to Congress. If adopted, the charge is expected to be levied against millions of commercial air and marine travelers from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, the only nations now exempt from the fee, and generate $110 million annually.

The fee would not apply to automobile traffic.


Prince Charles asks directions of a tree stump with dreadlocks

Click on photo for more!


CBCnews

An unprecedented cyberattack on the Canadian government, apparently from China, has given foreign hackers access to highly classified federal information and forced at least two key departments off the internet, CBC News has learned.

The attack, first detected in early January, left Canadian counter-espionage agents scrambling to determine how much sensitive government information may have been stolen and by whom.

Highly placed sources tell CBC News the cyberattacks were traced back to computer servers in China.

They caution, however, that there is no way of knowing whether the hackers are Chinese, or some other nationality routing their cybercrimes through China to cover their tracks.

So far, officials in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government have been all but mum on the extraordinary breach of security.

Found by Cinàedh.


If I were a suspicious person, I would think someone at Fox doesn’t like him.


Here’s his inspiration.


Is this just a badly run business or one more step in the apparently inevitable kill-off of brick and mortar book stores by ebooks and Amazon?

Borders Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Wednesday and said it will close about 30% of its stores nationwide in the coming weeks.

The struggling operator of the Borders and Waldenbooks chains sought protection from its creditors in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan a month after it warned it may have to restructure the company in Chapter 11.

“It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending… and the company’s lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor,” said Borders Group President Mike Edwards in a statement.

The Chapter 11 filing will allow Borders to access new capital and reorganize its operations, Mr. Edwards said.



The apple pie wedding cake

And you wanted to go to Vegas.

In the buzzing financial hub known for its fast living, young Hong Kong couples can now grab love on the run at the city’s McDonald’s outlets, which are offering a burgeoning new sideline: “McWeddings.”

On Valentine’s Day at a downtown McDonald’s close to the financial district, the fast food joint was decked out with pink balloons, a “cake” stacked from apple pies, as well as a pair of tiny souvenir crystal M rings, for a surprise engagement bash thrown by Kelvin, a young model, for his girlfriend, Ashley.

The McDonald’s “Warm and sweet wedding package,” at HK$9999 ($1282) a pop, includes wedding gifts, pink invitation cards emblazoned with golden arches, decor featuring the likes of Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar, and classic golden arches fare worth up to $385.

With two wedding parties confirmed for this year and around 70 other couples in talks, the American fast food giant is hoping this sideline will take off at a time of economic uncertainty, particularly with traditional Chinese weddings and banquets often imposing a huge financial burden on young couples.

That large pink McDonalds backdrop will cost you an extra $321.



click pic to embiggen


THE Prime Minister was said to be furious today after The Sun revealed 38 senior heroes including one on the Afghan front line were crassly sacked by EMAIL. The shocked men – all warrant officers – were informed they were victims of defense cuts.

Each got an impersonal message advising them: “Start planning your resettlement.” One stormed: “I thought it was a joke.” The MoD was branded “shameful and callous”. David Cameron’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is very, very clear that the way this has been handled is completely unacceptable.

“We are very clear that this was an unacceptable way of dealing with our Armed Forces and the Prime Minister has been very clear that he values their contribution extremely highly. “It should not have been handled in this way.” Defense Secretary Liam Fox also angrily slammed the move. He demanded an explanation of how it happened, saying this was “no way” to treat armed forces personnel.

In a statement issued by the MoD he said: “I am furious that such a situation should occur.

“This is no way to treat our armed forces personnel.

And I would say… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.


A 61 year-old woman…has given birth to her own grandson.

Kristine Casey acted as a surrogate for daughter Sara Connell after she was unable to have children of her own. Mrs Connell and her husband Bill are the biological parents of the boy, who is called Finnean.

The 35 year-old lecturer sat holding her mother’s hand as she delivered the baby boy at a hospital in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She said her mother, who gave birth to her last child almost 30 years ago, had offered to act as a surrogate when she suffered years of heartache trying to conceive…

She said when she heard her son cry for the first time after the caesarean section delivery she could not hold back the emotion.

Mrs Casey, a mother-of-three, said she was grateful to be able to help her daughter.

“The three of the happiest days of my life were giving birth to my daughters,’ and I thought I could choose to do this for someone I love,” she said.

Bound to be a hundred preachers, politicians and pundits who will spend the next week NOT approving of this. Meanwhile, a couple of families are made happier by the event.


WTSP.com

There are conflicting reports about whether she suffered some sort of medical episode like a stroke. Branson was hospitalized after the incident. When 10 News called to check on Branson, employees at CBS 2 only said that “she is doing much better.”

I’m sorry if she had a medical problem but this video made me laugh out loud.


Found by Cinàedh.



President Obama will roll out a $3.7 trillion budget blueprint Monday that would trim or terminate more than 200 federal programs next year and make key investments in education, transportation and research in a bid to boost the nation’s economy and reduce record budget deficits.

Senior administration officials cast the document as a responsible alternative to the deep spending cuts that Republicans will urge in a vote this week on the House floor. Obama’s plan would reduce deficits by more than $1.1 trillion over the next decade, the officials said, with two-thirds of the money coming from spending cuts that would strike hard at programs that Democrats have long favored.

However, the president also will call for targeted investments that would increase funding for energy and medical research, expand the tax credit for corporate research and development, pay to train 100,000 new science and math teachers, and fund a wireless network that would bring high-speed Internet access to 98 percent of Americans.

“The debate in Washington is not whether to cut or to spend. We both agree we should cut,” said a senior administration official, who briefed reporters Sunday night on the condition of anonymity because the budget had not been released. “The question is how we cut and what we cut.”


Executive Producer: Sir Kelly Spongberg
This Episode’s Associate Executive Producers and 278 Club Members: Michael Miller, Russel Keller
Associate Executive Producer: Michael Hall
Art By: Zone

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