The act of handing more powers to its intelligence agencies.
Yes, the Canadian government has passed a controversial anti-terrorism Bill, 183 votes to 93, to extend the powers of the country’s spy agencies.
It’s all in the interests of national security of course. The excuse or cover being used is the recent – and first ever – terrorist attack on Canadian soil last October, in which a gunman attacked the country’s parliament, shot a soldier on ceremonial guard duty and was subsequently killed himself.
The new legislation gives Canada’s spooks the ability to make preventative arrests. In other words, like America’s controversial ‘extraordinary rendition’, the Canadian Intelligence Service will be able to take “measures to reduce threats to the security of Canada, including measures that are authorized by the Federal Court”. And they can do it inside Canada as well as in other countries.
All well and good.
But tacked on to the legislation is the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act, which hands government agencies “increased information disclosure powers”, which is a nice way of saying they can snoop on almost anyone and everyone as and when they want to.
They are going to keep Canadians safe by listening to their phone calls and reading their emails, just like they do in America.
Doesn’t it give you a nice warm feeling of security?
Nope, me neither! .
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Don’t worry Ujiji is just part of a question in today’s selection, you don’t have to know where it is to score a point. Although if you do, give yourself a bonus.
The rest of the questions are easy, difficult and some somewhere in between.
But you won’t find out unless you give them a try.
And, as always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
So enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: In which country is the Province of Lapland to be found?
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Q. 2: An ‘Anemometer’ measures what?
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Q. 3: What are baby beavers called?
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Q. 4: What is the name of the smallest and southernmost region of mainland Portugal, known primarily for tourism?
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Q. 5: What quantity is measured in ‘Amperes’ ?
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Q. 6: In the human body what is the more common name for the ‘clavicle’ ?
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Q. 7: What is the name of the main airport, one of the busiest in the world, that serves the city of Chicago?
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Q. 8: What color is the innermost zone in an archery target?
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Q. 9: What vegetable is used if a dish is cooked ‘Florentine’ ?
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Q. 10: How many compartments does a cow’s stomach have?
a) 2 b) 4 c) 6 d) 8
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Q. 11: Who said “Dr Livingstone, I presume?” at Ujiji?
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Q. 12: Which novel is the story of the gentle knight and his servant Sancho Panza?
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Q. 13: Where would you find the ‘Sea of Tranquility’ ?
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Q. 14: How many British MPs are there currently in the House of Commons?
a) 450 b) 550 c) 650 d) 750
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Q. 15: And a related question, the ‘Storting’ is the parliament of which country?
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Q. 16: Which field sport involves teams of 10 for men and 12 for women each carrying a netted stick with which a ball is caught, carried or thrown?
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Q. 17: Who flew ‘Spirit of St Louis’ across the Atlantic to make the first solo flight across that ocean in 1927?
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Q. 18: Who wrote ‘The Day of the Jackal’, a story about an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle?
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Q. 19: Which French king built the Palace of Versailles?
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Q. 20: True or false, Miley Cyrus is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: In which country is the Province of Lapland to be found?
A. 1: Finland.
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Q. 2: An ‘Anemometer’ measures what?
A. 2: It measures wind speed.
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Q. 3: What are baby beavers called?
A. 3: They are called ‘Kits’.
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Q. 4: What is the name of the smallest and southernmost region of mainland Portugal, known primarily for tourism?
A. 4: It is known as the ‘Algarve’.
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Q. 5: What quantity is measured in ‘Amperes’ ?
A. 5: Electric current.
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Q. 6: In the human body what is the more common name for the ‘clavicle’ ?
A. 6: The collarbone.
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Q. 7: What is the name of the main airport, one of the busiest in the world, that serves the city of Chicago?
A. 7: It is known as ‘O’Hare Airport’.
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Q. 8: What color is the innermost zone in an archery target?
A. 8: Gold.
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Q. 9: What vegetable is used if a dish is cooked ‘Florentine’ ?
A. 9: Popeye’s favorite, ‘Spinach’.
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Q. 10: How many compartments does a cow’s stomach have?
a) 2 b) 4 c) 6 d) 8
A. 10: The correct answer is b) 4.
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Q. 11: Who said “Dr Livingstone, I presume?” at Ujiji?
A. 11: (Henry Morton) Stanley. (You get the point for ‘Stanley’.)
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Q. 12: Which novel is the story of the gentle knight and his servant Sancho Panza?
A. 12: Don Quixote.
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Q. 13: Where would you find the ‘Sea of Tranquility’ ?
A. 13: On the Moon.
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Q. 14: How many British MPs are there currently in the House of Commons?
a) 450 b) 550 c) 650 d) 750
A. 14: The correct answer is c) 650.
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Q. 15: And a related question, the ‘Storting’ is the parliament of which country?
A. 15: Norway.
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Q. 16: Which field sport involves teams of 10 for men and 12 for women each carrying a netted stick with which a ball is caught, carried or thrown?
A. 16: Lacrosse.
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Q. 17: Who flew ‘Spirit of St Louis’ across the Atlantic to make the first solo flight across that ocean in 1927?
A. 17: Charles Lindbergh.
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Q. 18: Who wrote ‘The Day of the Jackal’, a story about an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle?
A. 18: Frederick Forsythe.
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Q. 19: Which French king built the Palace of Versailles?
A. 19: Louis XIV.
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Q. 20: True or false, Miley Cyrus is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus?
Middle of the month, start of the week – call it what you like….
It’s a quiz!
A few difficult ones this week and one of two easy as well.
And if you get stuck the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: What is the sum of the numbers on a roulette wheel? (And don’t forget the double zero!)
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Q. 2: What is the only borough of New York City that is not an island (or part of an island)?
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Q. 3: From famous movies like ‘Goldfinger’ it is well known that the United States government keeps its supply of gold at Fort Knox, but where does it keep its supply of silver?
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Q. 4: What does the ‘D’ in ‘D-Day’ stand for?
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Q. 5: Which state of the United States of America is bordered by more states than any other?
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Q. 6: What is the white part of your fingernail is called?
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Q. 7: What is the oldest still active Parliament in the world?
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Q. 8: On a standard traffic light, what color is on the bottom?
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Q. 9: In the epic movie ‘Gone With The Wind’, what is the name of the genteel family that owns the ‘Twelve Oaks’ plantation?
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Q. 10: What is the name of the highest waterfall in the world and in which country can it be found. (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 11: In which hand is the Statue of Liberty’s torch?
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Q. 12: What is the only European capital city not situated on a river?
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Q. 13: Which Disney movie released in 1942 was about a little fawn?
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Q. 14: With a recorded temperature of about 134 degrees Fahrenheit or nearly 57 degrees Celsius what part of the United States holds the title of ‘the hottest place on Earth’? (A point for the name of the place and the state in which it is located.)
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Q. 15: Without looking at your phone, what two numbers on the dial don’t have letters by them?
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Q. 16: Which 2007 movie, the third in a series, was the most expensive Hollywood film ever made? (A bonus point if you know the approximate cost.)
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Q. 17: Which country in the world generates the most electricity from hydroelectric power? (A point for the name of the country and a bonus point for the approximate percentage of electricity generated in this way.)
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Q. 18: In what 1999 movie did Sean Connery star alongside Mrs Douglas?
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Q. 19: How many holes does a Chinese checkerboard have?
a) 64 b) 81 c) 121 d) 144
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Q. 20: About whom did Roberta Flack write the well known song “Killing Me Softly”?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What is the sum of the numbers on a roulette wheel? (And don’t forget the double zero!)
A. 1: The sum of the numbers on a roulette wheel is 666 and of course the double zero makes no difference at all to the total.
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Q. 2: What is the only borough of New York City that is not an island (or part of an island)?
A. 2: The only borough of New York City that isn’t an island (or part of an island) is the Bronx.
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Q. 3: From famous movies like ‘Goldfinger’ it is well known that the United States government keeps its supply of gold at Fort Knox, but where does it keep its supply of silver?
A. 3: The United States government keeps its supply of silver at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY.
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Q. 4: What does the ‘D’ in ‘D-Day’ stand for?
A. 4: The ‘D’ in ‘D-Day’ stands for ‘Day’, in other words, “Day-Day”
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Q. 5: Which state of the United States of America is bordered by more states than any other?
A. 5: Tennessee is bordered by more states than any other, by eight states, which are Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
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Q. 6: What is the white part of your fingernail is called?
A. 6: The white part of your fingernail is called the ‘lunula’.
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Q. 7: What is the oldest still active Parliament in the world?
A. 7: The Parliament of Iceland is the oldest still active parliament in the world. It was established in 930.
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Q. 8: On a standard traffic light, what color is on the bottom?
A. 8: Green.
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Q. 9: In the epic movie ‘Gone With The Wind’, what is the name of the genteel family that owns the ‘Twelve Oaks’ plantation?
A. 9: They are the Wilkes family, Leslie Howard starring as ‘Ashley Wilkes’.
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Q. 10: What is the name of the highest waterfall in the world and in which country can it be found. (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 10: The highest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela. It is so high that water will sometimes evaporate before hitting the ground.
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Q. 11: In which hand is the Statue of Liberty’s torch?
A. 11: In her right hand.
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Q. 12: What is the only European capital city not situated on a river?
A. 12: The Spanish capital Madrid is the only European capital city not situated on a river.
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Q. 13: Which Disney movie released in 1942 was about a little fawn?
A. 13: Bambi.
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Q. 14: With a recorded temperature of about 134 degrees Fahrenheit or nearly 57 degrees Celsius what part of the United States holds the title of ‘the hottest place on Earth’? (A point for the name of the place and the state in which it is located.)
A. 14: Death Valley in California holds the title of ‘the hottest place on Earth’.
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Q. 15: Without looking at your phone, what two numbers on the dial don’t have letters by them?
A. 15: 1 and 0. (Did you look?)
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Q. 16: Which 2007 movie, the third in a series, was the most expensive Hollywood film ever made? (A bonus point if you know the approximate cost.)
A. 16: Costing an estimated $300 million, it was ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean, At The World’s End’.
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Q. 17: Which country in the world generates the most electricity from hydroelectric power? (A point for the name of the country and a bonus point for the approximate percentage of electricity generated in this way.)
A. 17: Norway gets 98-99% of its electricity from hydroelectric power, more than any other country.
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Q. 18: In what 1999 movie did Sean Connery star alongside Mrs Douglas?
A. 18: The movie was ‘Entrapment’, Mrs Douglas is better known as Catherina Zeta-Jones.
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Q. 19: How many holes does a Chinese checkerboard have?
a) 64 b) 81 c) 121 d) 144
A. 19: Answer c), a Chinese checkerboard has 121 holes.
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Q. 20: About whom did Roberta Flack write the well known song “Killing Me Softly”?
A. 20: Roberta Flack wrote “Killing Me Softly” about singer Don McLean.
Back at the end of July in a previous Sunday Sermon I wrote that:
“Troops are being sent to Syria and soon we’ll get bogged down in another mess that’s none of our business and will probably take many years and many lives to get us disentangled from – leaving behind chaos and confusion and a worse situation than the one we tried to fix.”
Of course it’s still being denied by Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama and his administration, but there is little doubt now that Syria is next on their war hit list and we are indeed about to be bogged down in another bloody mess.
Already naval and ground forces are being positioned, for example, the cruise missile laden USS Gravely, USS Ramage, USS Barry and USS Mahan are all in the eastern Mediterranean.
The only remaining part is to con-vince the American public, who do not want another Middle Eastern debacle, that they are wrong and that a strike on Syria is essential for their future well being.
The pretext that is going to be used this time is ‘evidence’ of the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime against the rebels. And the people that are being relied on to provide that ‘evidence’ are the very same people who provided false ‘evidence’ that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
Everyone now knows and accepts that the WMD excuse for getting embroiled in Iraq was a deliberate deceit – otherwise known as a ‘lie’ – so the track record of the ‘evidence’ providers is neither good nor credible.
Already government apologists are making statements about how Syria had “used them [chemical weapons] before”, which is untrue. UN investigators charged the rebels, not Assad’s government’s forces, with use of chemical weapons in Syria earlier this year. Strangely (or perhaps not) Obama did not feel such a moral necessity to send a missile or two towards the rebels, instead he gave them more support.
Now add to that another good pinch of hypocrisy.
In fact make that two good pinches.
The first, because the rebellion now taking place within Syria would not have happened without the financial and military assistance of the US, along with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The hypocritical part of it all is that these three nations are in fact supporting people who, if successful, will become even more bitter enemies than the Assad regime.
And the second, because in an alleged effort to encourage ‘democracy’ in Syria, ‘democracy’ in America and Europe is being ignored.
For example, 64 percent of the French people have said they don’t want to get involved, but as in America the ‘people’ don’t have a say on the final outcome.
In Britain the Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron got a very embarrassing slap in the face in Parliament when he tried to emulate the lies of previous Prime Minister Tony Blair but lost a vote on military intervention in Syria. His spin doctors will be working overtime to cook up a good story for the next debate.
And it is plain that the majority of ordinary Americans do not want the President they elected on the promise of getting their troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, plunging them into another conflict which could prove to be as bloody if not bloodier. So plain in fact that until late Friday Obama had planned bypassing Congress obviously trying to avoid a similar embarrassment to that which was suffered by British PM Cameron.
Think this time it will only be a few missiles and drones and that troops won’t be involved? After all Obama has said “We’re not considering any boots on the ground approach”.
Then you need to think again.
Sure, at the outset Obama will try to fool the public by limiting attacks to missile strikes, but these alone won’t be enough. Even in today’s high-tech world you can’t wage wars without those boots on the ground. And in those boots are brave, but misled men and women, some of whom will lose their lives or be maimed as a result.
The doomsday pundits are saying that all this posturing and war mongering by Obama could spiral into something worse. Possibly even be the start of WW3. Unfortunately grandiose claims like these only serve to lessen the credibility of those who are arguing against another foreign intervention.
Putin seems to have more sense than Obama. The Russians have already made their mistake in Afghanistan and are unlikely to do it again. Even less do they want to start or become involved in, a major conflict – not at the moment anyway.
China has little interest in getting involved in a conflict in the middle east either. They will take the long view, and, as they did with Iraq, they will let the US waste billions more dollars blowing things down and building them up again and then they will step in and secure more oil supplies for themselves.
If it does get down to the nitty gritty one possibility that is more realistic is that the conflict could spread to other nations within the Middle East.
Iran for example has a mutual assistance pact with Syria. It also knows it is next on the US hit list so the longer the US is focused on Syria the longer it will postpone an attack on itself. It is not beyond imagination therefore that Iran could send arms and even troops to assist Assad.
Neither is it unreasonable to imagine that, if missile strikes on Syria result in retaliatory Syrian missile attacks on Israel, Israeli troops will also be sent into Syrian territory, with US forces backing them up shortly thereafter.
That is boots on the ground, no matter what denials you currently hear.
However it pans out, two things are certain. ‘Evidence’ or no ‘evidence’ Uncle Sam will stick his nose in once again. And if it all goes pear shaped, as it most likely will, then UP is the only way your gasoline and heating oil prices will be heading.
fasab 