skeleton

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wednesday, February 6, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Car park skeleton confirmed as Richard III

Researchers from the University of Leicester confirm that a skeleton found under a car park is that of King Richard III following extensive testing.

A series of papers presented at a news conference earlier detailed the highly-anticipated results of tests carried out on a skeleton thought to belong to Richard III, who died in battle more than 500 years ago.

Richard Buckley, dig project leader, said: “It is the academic conclusion that beyond reasonable doubt, the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in September 2011 is King Richard III – the last Plantagenet king of England.”

After suffering at least two fatal head wounds, tests on his skull and body reveal he was brutally hacked after falling and dying during combat in 1485. Richard was cut down at the bloody Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the Wars of the Roses and leaving Henry VII as the new king and first of the Tudor dynasty.

Philippa Langley, from the Richard III Society, said: “The men who knew him said he was ‘the most famous prince of best memory’.

“When he fell he was stripped naked and his scoliosis (curved spine) became known and was used to denigrate him.

“Today, we find the idea of using physical disability against a person as abhorrent. Let this now be a break from the Tudor medieval mindset.”

DNA recovered from the remains, radio-carbon dating, battlefield wounds found on the skeleton, and the link between what was found during the dig and what was mentioned in documentary sources from the period, combined to allow Leicester University academics to today conclude the identity was “beyond reasonable doubt”. (Source: BBC News)

Thursday October 15, 2009

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday October 15, 2009 Big problems in higher dollar There is a certain giddiness attached to a soaring Canadian dollar, with visions of cheaper trips to Florida or New York for those who canÊafford to travel. There is also a degree of smugness about us doing better than the Americans in managing the economy. We should dismiss such thoughts, however. The fact is that a higher-valued dollar is a disaster for Ontario's economy, based as it is onÊexports of manufactured goods into the U.S. market. Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) estimates that, for every hike of oneÊcent in the value of our dollar, 25,000 factory jobs are lost. And since the beginning of this year, the loonie has gone up 15 cents. Partly this is attributable to our better fiscal situation, in comparison to the tax-averse Americans. (The U.S. deficit Ð a staggering $1.6Êtrillion this year Ð is "unsustainable," according to the Congressional Budget Office.) And partly it can be traced to rising prices forÊcommodities, particularly oil, for the loonie is now a "petro-dollar." For manufacturers, this is a double whammy: the higher dollar makes their products less competitive in the American market, and higherÊoil prices drive up their costs. "Canadian manufacturers are really caught between a rock and a hard place," says CME President Jayson Myers. Prime Minister StephenÊHarper notes the "difficult effects" on the economy. (Source: Toronto Star) Canada, Dollar, loonie, strength, strong, imports, exports, fish, skeleton, bones, economy

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 15, 2009

Big problems in higher dollar

There is a certain giddiness attached to a soaring Canadian dollar, with visions of cheaper trips to Florida or New York for those who can afford to travel. There is also a degree of smugness about us doing better than the Americans in managing the economy.

We should dismiss such thoughts, however. The fact is that a higher-valued dollar is a disaster for Ontario’s economy, based as it is on exports of manufactured goods into the U.S. market. Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) estimates that, for every hike of one cent in the value of our dollar, 25,000 factory jobs are lost. And since the beginning of this year, the loonie has gone up 15 cents.

Partly this is attributable to our better fiscal situation, in comparison to the tax-averse Americans. (The U.S. deficit – a staggering $1.6 trillion this year – is “unsustainable,” according to the Congressional Budget Office.) And partly it can be traced to rising prices for commodities, particularly oil, for the loonie is now a “petro-dollar.”

For manufacturers, this is a double whammy: the higher dollar makes their products less competitive in the American market, and higher oil prices drive up their costs.

“Canadian manufacturers are really caught between a rock and a hard place,” says CME President Jayson Myers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper notes the “difficult effects” on the economy. (Source: Toronto Star)