...helps locate 2 stranded snowmobilers near Lac Brochet, MB, after 24-hour-plus search

This is the Aged Hercules Aircraft that we toured at 17th Wing,Winnipeg Mb. It can evacuate a maximum of 125 people,seat belted to the floor. The C-F17 is bigger than the Hercules and apparently resides in Trenton ,Ontario. Winnipeg is considered the SAR(Search And Rescue) Center for Canada. Would like to see a C-F17 close-up!

MINING IN THE PHILIPPINES - CONCERNS AND CONFLICTS

Uploaded on Jan 28, 2009 Mining in the Philippines has an extremely poor reputation. It has left over 800 abandoned mines littered throughout the countryside, caused massive environmental damage and has been linked to serious human rights abuses

John Manley thinks an armored vehicle with a 105 mm gun is just a “fancy truck”

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN It appears that John Manley, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada and the Liberal’s Minister of Foreign Trade from 2000 to 2002, is channeling both Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau. Manley has written an opinion piece for iPolitics in which he argues there is nothing wrong with the deal which will see Canada sell Saudi Arabia billions of dollars worth of light armoured vehicles. One of the main reasons, he points out, is that the light armored vehicles the Saudis will receive from General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada, are not the type of “equipment that can be used in torture or persecution of women. We are selling military vehicles — basically fancy trucks.” General Dynamics Land Systems- Canada is not providing specific details about the breakdown of the LAV order, which has financial backing of the government of Canada. But defence industry sources say Saudi Arabia will acquire different versions of the upgraded LAV-III, outfitted with a variety of weapon systems. One of the subcontracts already made public for the Saudi deal is for a 105mm gun system. The decision to go for a variety of weapon systems follows the pattern of previous Saudi purchases of Canadian LAVs. Jane’s, the defense publication in the United Kingdom, noted Saudi Arabia already has a fleet of more than 1,400 light armoured vehicles purchased from General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada. They were produced in a variety of versions: some are designed as armoured ambulances while others are outfitted with 25mm cannons or a 90mm gun. Other versions carry 120mm mortars. It appears from videos and photos that the versions of the Canadian LAVs that Saudi Arabia used when it helped Bahrain crush pro-democracy protests in 2011 were largely equipped with 90mm guns. The Saudis stationed their vehicles and troops at key locations throughout the country, protecting government buildings for instance. That in turn freed up Bahrain’s security forces to crack down on the protesters and conduct mass arrests. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry determined that many detainees arrested by security forces were subjected to torture. Manley’s reasoning on the light armoured vehicles is similar to both Harper and Trudeau. In October, Harper, under fire for the deal with Saudi Arabia, a high profile abuser of human rights, tried to position the deal in a more benign way. “Let’s be clear what this contract is – it’s not an arms contract,” Harper told a radio station in London, Ont. “It’s actually for military transport vehicles.”

Pope Francis and Orthodox leaders visit migrants on Lesbos DW by B.Reighart

The leader of the world's estimated 2 billion Catholics arrived on Lesbos Saturday, alongside the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Athens Archbishop Ieronymos II. They greeted about 250 refugees who are currently on the Greek island. Afterwards they are expected to have lunch with some of them, and throw floral wreaths in to the sea while praying for those who died on the journey to the island.  The Pope told the refugees at Moira camp "you are not alone."

Later in their visit, the three religious leaders signed a joint declaration calling for the protection of human lives to be made a priority and for the international community to extend temporary asylum to those in need.

Dozens of refugees who didn't meet the pope gathered holding makeshift banners with slogans such as "Pope you are our hope," ''please save Yazidi people," ''we are also human," and "Welcome Pope Francis."

The pope has reportedly offered to take 10 refugees back to Italy with him when he departs the Greek island, Greek state television ERT reported, adding it appears eight Syrians and two Afghans will be offered passage. The inclusion of the latter would be a symbolic move at a time when the EU has stopped automatically considering Afghans as refugees and does not include them among the nationalities whose asylum applications are approved.

 The Pope's visit was to "visit refugees and reject EU asylum policy."

Front line of migration crisis

The visit by Pope Francis coincides with the implementation of a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey aimed at stopping people attempting to reach Europe. Under the deal, people who arrive in Greece in smugglers' boats would be detained and deported back to Turkey unless their applications for asylum in Greece were successful.

The Pope was to visit a Greek "hotspot" - a migrant processing center where conditions have been criticized by rights groups. Before setting off for Greece, he made this statement :

"Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories and need to be treated as such."

US Deploys B-52s for Bombing in Syria, Iraq

US Deploys B-52s for Bombing in Syria, Iraq

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/04/11/iraq-a11.html

"The US Air Force sent B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf Saturday and plans to use them for bombing raids on targets in Iraq and Syria, according to the Pentagon and US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East. An undisclosed number of bombers will be stationed at Al Udeid air base in Qatar.

This marks the first deployment of B-52s in the Middle East since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The deployment of the B52s is undoubtedly connected to the US preparations to bolster the planned Iraqi military offensive against Mosul.

These maneuvers and preparations for a wider war are taking place under a virtual media blackout in the United States..."
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To understand the American ruling class and how barbaric they are all you need to do is read the quote by Lieutenant Colonel Chris Karns, “Accuracy is critically important in this war.” He added, “Carpet-bombing would not be effective for the operation we’re in because [ISIS] doesn’t mass as large groups. Often they blend into population centers. We always look to minimize civilian casualties.”

To them mass killing is ok depending on the need and that civilians are factored into the killing spree.

Second formation of Turkish fighter jets enter Athens without first submitting flight plans

A second group of Turkish F-4 Phantom II fighter jets and a KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft entered Athens’ FIR at 14.59 (local) without submitting flight plans on Monday, Greece’s National Defence General Staff said on Monday.
The aircraft flew over the northeastern part of Lesvos at 22,000 feet, it said in a press release. The Turkish aircraft, which exited Athens FIR at 15.01 north of Lesvos, were recognized and intercepted by Greek fighter jets. 
Earlier, two Turkish F-16 entered Athens’ FIR (13.26 local) between the islands of Lesvos and Chios without submitting a flight plan. The fighter jets flew over the islets of Inouses at 9,000 feet and a minute later they exited Athens FIR through the same route. The Turkish formation was recognized by Greek fighter jets 
The Turkish overflights were witnessed by the Dutch frigate “Van Amstel” which is operating east of Chios as part of the NATO operation in the area to stop migrant smuggling rings. The Greek frigate “Salamis” and the Turkish “Gokova” both operate east of Lesvos.

Athens News Agency/Macedonia Press Agency

Chernobyl 30 years later.. Simon Parkin's story

Chernobyl 30 years later.. SimonParkin's story and more pics today in the Guardian Weekend http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/09/chance-show-truth-into-heart-of-chernobyl-nuclear-disaster?CMP=share_btn_tw …
 ‘We have a chance to show the truth’: into the heart of Chernobyl
 Three decades after the nuclear disaster, the concrete protecting the reactor is starting to crack. Yet people still live there – and a new virtual reality project will take many more inside the ‘death zone’. At first they thought it was just a fire, then the chickens started to turn black. When it comes to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, everyone has a vivid detail that is snagged in the memory; the absurdities or the obscenities. It might be the local village that, once evacuated, was claimed by a mob of pigs. Or the way milk would turn to white powder whenever the residents of Pripyat (the town built a few hundred meters from the doomed power plant) would attempt to churn butter. Or the cat that refused to be stuffed into a suitcase by its owner, who couldn’t bear to abandon his pet during the mass exile, 36 hours after the explosion. Who can forget that 70 Belorussian villages had to be buried under the ground? Or that Soviet soldiers shot every dog, in case it wandered, toxic-ally, into a neighboring city? Or that many of those same men risked their lives hoisting flags on the roofs of buildings every few weeks, whenever the old ones were chewed to lace by the radioactive breeze?