UFO

Wednesday November 14, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 14, 2018

UFO reported streaking across Irish skies on Friday morning

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is investigating an unidentified flying object (UFO) which streaked across the sky on Friday morning and disappeared.

December 17, 2016

Several commercial aircraft reported seeing at least one bright light with one pilot stating that the UFO was going at an “astronomical” speed of at least Mach 2 (2,500 km/h), which is twice as fast as a commercial jetliner.

If there are little green men and women visiting Earth for the first time, they have proved to be very elusive.

The British Airways 787, call sign Speedbird 94, radioed Shannon Air Traffic Control at 6.47am asking if there were any military exercises off the west coast of Ireland.

A pilot recounted: “It was moving so fast. It appeared on our left hand side and rapidly veered to the north. We saw a bright light and it then just disappeared at a very high speed.

“We were just wondering. We didn’t think it was likely political. We were just wondering what it might be”, she added.

May 14, 2004

A Shannon air traffic controller responded: “There’s nothing showing on either primary or secondary (radar)”.

A pilot from a Virgin Airlines plane, callsign Virgin76, came on to air traffic control and suggested it might be a “meteor or another object making some kind of re-entry. There appeared to be multiple objects following the same sort of trajectory. They were very bright from where we were.”

The pilot also confirmed that he he had seen “two bright lights that seemed to bank over to the right and climb away at speed at least from our perspective.”

A third pilot responded: “Glad it wasn’t just me”.

An IAA spokesman said the authority is investigating the incident and will file a report. “This report will be investigated under the normal confidential occurrance investigation process.” The spokesman added that it was unlikely to be aliens from another planet. (Continued: Irish Times)

 

 

Monday August 27, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday August 27, 2018

Jagmeet Singh, Missing in Action

Jagmeet Singh to announce run for Parliament (story from 3 weeks ago)

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will announce Wednesday he’s running for the Burnaby South seat in the House of Commons, CTV News has confirmed.

Singh won the federal NDP leadership last fall but isn’t a member of Parliament. Reports indicated he would run to replace New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart, who has resigned his seat to run in Vancouver’s mayoral race.

Singh has an event in Burnaby, B.C. Tomorrow.

“I know he’s looking at it very closely,” Stewart said in an interview with CTVNews.ca

“I did approach Jagmeet suggesting that it might be good for him to run in Burnaby South. What’s been very positive is when I mention it to people in Burnaby, is how excited they got,” he said.

Stewart said Singh understands the city and knows the NDP supporters there.

Singh sat in the Ontario Legislature before his federal leadership run, representing the Toronto area riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton. He held the seat from 2011 to 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Ontario NDP.

Stewart said he’s not concerned that Singh isn’t from the riding and noted former NDP leader Tommy Douglas, who had been premier of Saskatchewan, served in the riding after leaving Saskatchewan politics. (CTV News) 

 

Wednesday May 13, 2015

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday May 13, 2015 Meet Patrick Who, OntarioÕs new Progressive Conservative leader The only thing that is absolutely certain about Patrick Brown, the new Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, is that he loves the political process. He has attended an enormous number of community events, everywhere from his federal riding in Barrie, Ont., to the state of Gujarat in India Ð where he made a particularly rewarding connection with the future prime minister of India, Narendra Modi. Long-time MPP and relatively moderate Christine Elliott was expected to easily win the leadership when the campaign began, but Mr. BrownÕs relentless contact-making, politicking and membership-selling put him far ahead in the end. Mr. Brown was rather a silent MP in Ottawa, so itÕs hard to make out what he stands for. There is evidence of his being a social conservative, but on becoming leader, he was quick to say he would not revisit divisive social issues. He now calls himself a pragmatic conservative, and he points out that he has attended Gay Pride events in Barrie. His surprising campaign has drawn attention to the fact that there are no limits to campaign contributions from any single person or corporation in Ontario party leadership races Ð a situation that needs to change. His larger donors range from the proprietor of Canada Cannabis Corp. to the owner of the Barrie Colts hockey team, to an onion-farming corporation and the owner of a chain of hotels across Canada. The Ontario Liberals have been in power ever since 2003. In the past two provincial elections, the Conservatives, led by Tim Hudak, offered a platform and a tone modelled on what got them Mike Harris elected in the mid-1990s. It might as well have been called Common Sense Revolution II. They are still in opposition. Mr. Brown needs to win a seat in the Legislature before long, but more importantly, he needs to articulate a substantial

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 13, 2015

Meet Patrick Who, Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative leader

The only thing that is absolutely certain about Patrick Brown, the new Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, is that he loves the political process. He has attended an enormous number of community events, everywhere from his federal riding in Barrie, Ont., to the state of Gujarat in India – where he made a particularly rewarding connection with the future prime minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Tim Hudak elected 2009

Long-time MPP and relatively moderate Christine Elliott was expected to easily win the leadership when the campaign began, but Mr. Brown’s relentless contact-making, politicking and membership-selling put him far ahead in the end.

John Tory elected 2004

Mr. Brown was rather a silent MP in Ottawa, so it’s hard to make out what he stands for. There is evidence of his being a social conservative, but on becoming leader, he was quick to say he would not revisit divisive social issues. He now calls himself a pragmatic conservative, and he points out that he has attended Gay Pride events in Barrie.

Ernie Eves elected 2002

The Ontario Liberals have been in power ever since 2003. In the past two provincial elections, the Conservatives, led by Tim Hudak, offered a platform and a tone modelled on what got them Mike Harris elected in the mid-1990s. It might as well have been called Common Sense Revolution II. They are still in opposition.

Mr. Brown needs to win a seat in the Legislature before long, but more importantly, he needs to articulate a substantial reason why people should vote for his party, one that is neither dogmatic nor vacuous. The next election is not until 2018, but the province needs an Official Opposition that can present a serious alternative to the Liberals. There’s a strong suspicion that Mr. Brown will try to win the next election by essentially repeating the strategy of the past two, or possibly running even further to the right, and doing even less to attract voters beyond the base. That would be a mistake. He and his party have three years to think it over. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Friday April 27, 2002

April 27, 2002

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 27, 2002

Hamilton’s Randle Reef

There have been so many setbacks in cleaning up Randle Reef, the notorious dead zone in Hamilton Harbour, that it seemed as if a solution would take forever. So much for the litany of bad news associated with the toxic hot spot just west of Stelco’s Hilton Works. With key stakeholders now in agreement on a viable strategy for the cleanup, Hamilton is finally in position to correct one of the most pressing pollution problems in the harbour.

The stakeholders made a prudent choice in supporting a plan to cover the site and build a facility large enough to hold contaminated sediment from other areas in the bay. Capping Randle Reef was judged the most practical and cost-effective approach, and for good reason. The alternatives involved dredging the site, and other contaminated areas of the bay, and then trucking the waste away. It would be a messy, piecemeal, time-consuming and ultimately more expensive approach for the harbour as a whole.

The plan favoured by the stakeholders has the drawback of filling in more of the bay, which is never desirable. But there is a strong case that it’s an acceptable tradeoff in tackling not only the Randle Reef menace, but other contaminated areas in the bay which must be addressed. Under the preferred option, six to eight hectares of the harbour would be filled in. About 95,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment at Randle Reef would be covered. The facility would be designed to accommodate another 200,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment from elsewhere in the bay. (The Hamilton Spectator)