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Good news report from Canada

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1 February 2009

25 January was the 25th day of the seventh month of the 3rd year of Canadian national consciousness rising to invincibility.

Dr William Overall, National Director of the Global Country of World Peace in Canada, presented highlights of news reports reflecting Canada's rising invincibility from Yogic Flying groups across Canada and the large Invincible America Assembly at Maharishi University of Management and Maharishi Vedic City, USA.

Extensive scientific research has documented the Maharishi Effect of rising coherence, harmony, and peace created in the collective consciousness of a nation by large groups of Yogic Flyers. The effect has been found to extend beyond national borders when the group is of sufficient size.

Following are press reports featured in Dr Overall's presentation:

25 January 2009

The Globe and Mail - Low debt load will help us weather recession (22 January 2009) Canada's low debt burden—among governments, businesses, and households alike—gives the country a crucial advantage that is backed up by stability in the banking system. Canadian banks remain well capitalized. Unlike their global counterparts, they are still lending, and are able to raise money in financial markets. The corporate sector, as a whole, has been equally thrifty. Debt levels are low, and companies generally have high cash balances. 'Nobody can take away the fact that Canadians are far less burdened,' said Sherry Cooper, chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns, both compared with other countries and compared with our own past. The federal government has been able to pay off more than C$100 billion in debt in the past decade, and most provinces have vastly improved their books as well. As Ottawa and the provinces prepare to spend billions to mitigate the recession, Canada can well afford to do so.

CBC News on consumer future expectations rose in January (22 January 2009) Canadians think now may a good time to buy big-ticket items, says a survey by market research firm, TNS Canadian Facts, which tracks attitudes toward the economy in Canada on a monthly basis. TNS Canadian Facts produces three measures of consumer confidence every month to show how confidence in the economy is changing: a Present Situation Index, an Expectations Index, and a Buy Index. The Expectations Index, which measures expectations about the economy, household income, and employment in the next six months, rose slightly in January. It now stands at 84.1, up from 80.4 in December. The Buy Index, which measures the degree to which people think the current period is a good time to make major purchases, also rose slightly. It now sits at 88.5 compared with 84.1 in December. TNS Canadian Facts interviewed 1,014 Canadians over the phone between 12 Jan. and 15 Jan.

Canwest News Service - Inflation rate falls to 1.2 per cent (23 January 2009) Canada's annual rate of inflation fell to 1.2 per cent in December from two per cent the previous month, Statistics Canada said. 'It was the smallest increase since January 2007 and reflected a sharp decline in the price of gasoline,' the federal agency said. Gas prices plunged 25.8 per cent in December from the same month a year earlier—the biggest annual drop since at least 1949, when the agency began tracking the commodity. 'Excluding gasoline, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to December, down slightly from the 2.8 per cent increase in November.' Statistics Canada said. December's CPI 'was also tempered by ongoing price declines for purchasing and leasing passenger vehicles, women's clothing and fuel oil and other fuels.' Core inflation rate—which strips out volatile items such as energy—was unchanged at 2.4 per cent in December.

The Canadian Press - Ontario backs converting coal plants for biomass: Smitherman (21 January 2009) Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is looking into replacing coal with biomass at power-generating plants. OPG plans to convert a power plant near Thunder Bay to burn wood pellets, and possibly three other coal-fired plants as well. Energy Minister George Smitherman said he's encouraging the move, which would allow the province to use an environmentally friendly energy source at the plants when it shifts away from coal in 2014. Biomass uses agricultural and forest waste and is one of the various technologies the province is considering as it tries to move towards greener power sources. OPG issued a call to potential suppliers of biomass fuel and transportation services to try to assess whether there's enough wood residue and agricultural waste to be used as renewable energy, as well as the transportation costs. Keith Stewart, an analyst with the World Wildlife Fund Canada, said substituting biomass for coal would be a great way to create green jobs while fighting climate change, as long as the fuel is produced sustainably. 'It's going to take some clear rules and really listening to the science of this rather than just the politics,' Stewart said.

From a CBC News report on this: 'Biomass really does stand as one of the really great opportunities for green energy in the province of Ontario, because it burns so clean and our province is so big we seem to have it in vast supply,' said Ontario Energy Minister George Smitherman. Environmentalists support the move, providing it doesn't mean the clear-cutting of forests or using plants for fuel that should be used as food.

From a Toronto Star report on this: Biomass is the residue from forestry and the processing of some farm crops—treetops and limbs, wheat husks, and the like. Burning biomass to generate electricity could reduce climate change because the amount of carbon dioxide released would equal what the fuel absorbed while growing. That makes it, unlike coal, 'carbon neutral'. OPG says it expects they'd generate only about 10 per cent as much electricity as they now do with coal. It anticipates they'd meet peak demands or smooth the fluctuations in wind and solar power.

The Canadian Press - Ont. program allows return of hazardous waste to retail stores (22 January 2009) A new programme being launched will aim to divert hazardous household waste like old batteries from Ontario landfills by allowing consumers to return them to the store. Fees will be collected from companies that make or import the products to pay for the programme, but Environment Minister John Gerretsen says the fees will be 'quite nominal.' The programme will be expanded to include items such as aerosol containers, fluorescent light bulbs, and corrosive cleaners.

The Canadian Press - Deal lets native offenders face justice outside court (24 January 2009) The Prince Rupert Aboriginal Justice Society has signed an agreement with federal and British Columbia government agencies that now recognize alternative ways to deal with offenders outside of provincial courtrooms. The agreement says the diversion from criminal charges is meant for younger adults and those who have committed minor offences and have no criminal record.

The Globe and Mail - Ottawa suggests adding chemical to toxic list (24 January 2009) Health Canada and Environment Canada are recommending adding diethyl sulphate to the country's list of toxic substances. It can be used to make fabric softeners and in the production of pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and dyes. The government is concerned about diethyl sulphate because a number of foreign jurisdictions, including the European Commission, consider it a possible cause of cancer. Attention to the substance marks a resumption of the Conservatives' highly touted programme of reviewing hazardous chemicals. The chemical programme led to last year's decision to place bisphenol A on the country's toxic substances list, a move that made Canada the first country in the world to take action against the chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic baby bottles and the resins lining the insides of tin cans. The Canadian Cancer Society issued a statement, saying it was 'pleased' that the review 'seems to be back on track'.

Canwest News Service - Edmonton schools warm to geothermal heat (23 January 2009) Public school trustees in Edmonton are digging into the question of whether geothermal heating could be used to warm future generations of students. 'I think we have an obligation to be forward-thinking and progressive in terms of making sure the district has the best environmental policies in place,' Trustee Dave Colburn said. At its meeting last week, the board asked district officials to report back on what they know about geothermal heating and how it might be used in Edmonton's public schools and administrative buildings. The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association's headquarters in Edmonton was retrofitted with a geothermal heating system during a renovation several years ago. Association president Lloyd Bertschi said the system has worked well for the building. 'When we first put it in, we were projected to have an eight-year payback period, and it wound up being shorter than that because of the increase in natural gas costs,' Bertschi said. Alberta Infrastructure is investigating whether geothermal energy would work in other public buildings around the province.

The Canadian Press - Tech-savvy educators opening new worlds to students via virtual classrooms (24 January 2009) Last year, professor Lyle Wetsch joined at least 10 other Canadian educational institutions inhabiting Second Life, an online virtual world, to teach an MBA class for students at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Interacting via his lifelike representation—called an avatar—Wetsch led students on virtual visits of the headquarters of major car companies. He also had virtual office hours. Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont., Canada's first school to build a campus in Second Life, has used the platform successfully. Other Canadian schools with a presence in Second Life include the University of Saskatchewan, Ontario's McMaster and York universities, the University of British Columbia, and BC.'s Simon Fraser University. While Second Life has seemingly become the most popular platform, other developing virtual worlds include the Active Worlds Educational Universe and the Education Grid. At Great Northern Way Campus, a collaborative institution formed from four leading BC schools, some students in the master of digital media programme are building a virtual reading room that allows avatars to click on a book to reveal a 3-D encyclopedia of information.

These are a few of the news reports reflecting Canada's rising invincibility through the Invincible America Assembly as well as Yogic Flying groups in Canada.

For further information on creating invincibility for your nation, please visit: www.globalgoodnews.com/invincibility.

© Copyright 2008 Global Good News^®

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For information about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York.

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