China’s State Population and Family Planning Commission has announced that its ‘one family, one child’ planning policy will be in effect for at least another decade. Zhang Weiqing, the commission’s minister, anticipates that a surge in births will occur approximately ten years from now, when 200 million people enter their childbearing years. Any attempt to rescind the current family planning program will result in a population boom.
Ever heard of Frederick “Casey” Baldwin? You should have, we all should have. He was the first man in Canada, and in the then British Empire, to fly a heavier-than-air craft. The event occurred on March 12, 1908 in upstate New York, which has meant that the flight has been termed “America’s first public flight.” Actually, Baldwin hailed from Toronto, and his 97 metre flight in a Red Wing biplane pre-dated the famous Nova Scotia voyage of the ‘Silver Dart’ by almost a year.
Tunnel construction has become the big thing in the Gaza Strip, much to Egypt’s dismay. On March 8, 2008 Egyptian residents found six underground tunnels around the border town of Rafah and tipped off security officers. The tunnels were all empty, but the find gives credence to Israel’s complaint that Egypt is not doing enough to stop alleged arms smuggling from Gaza into Egypt, via underground tunnels.
Why don’t we stop this slaughter? This week Russian stars and environmentalists protested the continued hunting of baby seals on the White Sea’s shore. Quoted by the Interfax News Agency, Russian sports commentator Viktor Gusev stated, “I think that today we did a great thing and stopped these killings for at least some time. A law must put an end to this.” Mr. Gusev is right. How many baby seals have to die before rich people discover the quality and texture of faux fur.
A recent CBC documentary, “Tar Sands: The Selling of Alberta,” produced and directed by Edmontonian Tom Radford, raises the pertinent question of Canadian economic, and perhaps political, sovereignty. The presentation suggests that the disproportionate foreign ownership of the tar sands will affect Canadian environmental policies both within Canada and abroad, Canadian sovereignty in general, and Canadian/American relations in particular. Former premier Peter Lougheed, who has always been very critical of the present Alberta Government’s policy to refuse to limit growth in Ft McMurray and the tar sands generally, states in the film that ownership does not rest with the oil companies, but with the people.
