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8 April 2009

8 April was the 8th day of tenth month of the 3rd year of Canadian national consciousness rising to invincibility.

8 April 2009

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:

Canwest News Servic - Teens more angel, less rebel: study (7 April 2009) The image of the rebellious teen needs to be revised to reflect what has become an increasingly virtuous demographic. Today's teens are less likely to smoke, drink or take drugs than they were eight years ago. The findings are culled from a wide-ranging survey of about 5,500 teens from across Canada, which creates a picture of young people as new traditionalists who are more virtuous in their behaviour than their predecessors. When teens see their futures, they see large, happy families, stable marriages, and landing the jobs they want, according to the latest results from Project Teen Canada, a series of surveys that has examined the values, attitudes, and beliefs of young people every eight years since 1984. The findings are contained in a forthcoming book on the 2008 survey, called The Emerging Millennials, by Reginal Bibby, a University of Lethbridge sociologist. Teens reported to being very close to their parents, with almost eight in 10 teens saying they received a high level of enjoyment from their mothers and more than seven in 10 saying the same about their fathers. In all, 68% of the teens say they will graduate from university and 81% expect to be more financially comfortable than their parents, while 97% expect to own their own homes. When it comes to family life, 91% plan to marry . Almost half want two children and more than a quarter of them want three children. As well, 90% of teenage boys and 90% of teenage girls expect they will stay with the same partner for life. One of the remarkable things about Canadian teens is that they 'seem to have something along the lines of that ''hope-chip'' embedded,' Prof. Bibby said. 'Regardless of experiences they are having, they feel things will get better. Despite what has happened to their parents, they feel they can live a different life.'

The Globe and Mail - Home construction rebounds (8 April 2009) Construction of new homes picked up 13.7 per cent in March, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said, despite expectations for a continued slide. Housing starts rose last month to 154,700 units, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, an increase from the 136,100 pace seen in February. Economists had expected home building to pull back again in March, to about a pace of 130,000 new units a year. The surge was 'mind-boggling', said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities. Urban multiple housing starts rose 28.3 per cent to 81,500 units. But construction of new single homes also increased, up 1.3 per cent to 46,400 units in March. Building of Ontario urban homes increased by 35 per cent, and Quebec saw a 23.3 per cent rise in urban starts. 'While the multiples segment experienced the largest increase, the overall boost in starts was broad based, encompassing the singles segment as well,' said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist.

From a CBC News report on this: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said the trend is good news for overall home building.

CBC News- House prices holding up better than expected: Royal LePage (8 April 2009) Canada's housing markets were 'relatively resilient' in the first quarter, Royal LePage Real Estate Services reported. The average price of a two-storey home fell 6.5 per cent to C$379,636, compared to the first quarter in 2008. Percentage drops for detached bungalows and condominiums, which are both less expensive than two-storey homes, fell even less. The drop took the real estate sales company by surprise. 'We expected a sharper decline in house prices across Canadian markets during the first quarter,' Phil Soper, president and CEO, said.

CTV News - Atlantic Canada housing market strongest in '09 (8 April 2009) Royal LePage Real Estate Services President Phil Soper said the data shows the hottest housing market during the first quarter of the year to be in St. John's, Newfoundland, where prices for standard two-storey homes rose 15 per cent year over year. 'Consumer confidence drives a lot of activity in the housing market and they remain a very confident lot, and there's still a supply shortage of homes for sale there,' he told CTV's Canada AM. Soper said other markets in Atlantic Canada also performed steadily, due in part to the region's affordable housing prices and to an increasingly diverse regional economy. 'Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, New Brunswick, are all healthy markets,' he said. 'The economies have really diversified over the last 15 years and it's showing up in terms of steadier prices.' Soper said Canadian realtors have high hopes for an improvement in the national market this spring. 'There is a remarkable uptick in March in buying activity in the marketplace . . . ,' he said.

The Globe and Mail - Bonds boom as credit tap slowly opens (7 April 2009) Canadian companies are selling bonds at the fastest pace in a year and the debt market is opening to a wider swath of borrowers. Canada's bond market is more open than perhaps any in the world. The country is not just drawing local borrowers, but global companies like Thomson Reuters that could choose to tap other markets. There have been 13 corporate bond sales totalling C$5.7 billion in just five weeks since the beginning of March, including a C$750 million sale by Thomson. That's a significant pickup from the sluggish pace of sales since mid-2008. 'That [market] really has exploded open in the last few weeks in Canada,' said Eric Lascelles, chief economics and rates strategist at TD Securities. 'For a while there it was open to only a select group of issuers, and now it seems to be broadening,' said Mark Chandler, a fixed-income strategist at RBC Dominion Securities. The improvement isn't confined to longer-term corporate borrowing. Some bank borrowing costs have steadied at levels not far from precrisis costs, which is feeding into a recent drop in mortgage rates.

Sun Media - Mission aims to triple China trade by 2019 (8 April 2009) International Trade Minister Stockwell Day is embarking on a trade mission to China. With a focus on bolstering bilateral trade ties with the economic powerhouse, Day plans to sell Canada as a sound place to invest because of the country's solid banking system, low tax rates, and highly educated population. 'Even though we're in a time of economic downturn, now's the time to be expanding our opportunities, opening our doors,' he said. With the goal of tripling trade with China in the next 10 years, Day will announce six new trade offices during the trip.

CBC News on Canadian overseas investments soared in 2008 (8 April 2009) Canada's direct investment in foreign countries soared in 2008 by the largest amount in 27 years, according to Statistics Canada. Canadians' holdings in other economies jumped 24 per cent last year, making these investments worth C$637.3 billion. That represented a rise of C$157.9 billion in additional value for Canadian direct holdings in other countries. Statistics Canada said the 24 per cent increase was the biggest one-year gain since 1981. 'The weaker Canadian currency relative to the U.S. dollar added C$52.5 billion to the Canadian direct investment position in that region,' Statistics Canada said. Canadian investments are valued in Canada's currency. Thus, U.S. investments get translated into more Canadian dollars when Canada's loonie [popular name for the Canadian dollar] drops in value.

From the Statistics Canada report: The increase in the level of Canadian direct investment abroad led to a gain of C$108.3 billion at the end of 2008 in Canada's net direct investment position (the difference between Canadian direct investment abroad and foreign direct investment in Canada). This was up sharply from C$24.1 billion in 2007, and resulted in the largest recorded surplus on net direct investment position of C$132.4 billion.

Bloomberg News - Canada posts first ever bilateral investment surplus with U.S. (8 April 2009) Canada recorded its first ever surplus in bilateral direct investment with the United States in 2008. Direct Canadian investment in the United States was C$17.1-billion greater last year than U.S. direct investment in Canada, Statistics Canada said. In 2007, the balance of such investments favoured the United States by C$62.1 billion. 'We are seeing the beginning of Canadian corporations being successful at expanding beyond their borders,' said Joseph Martin, who studies Canadian business history at University of Toronto. 'Canada is becoming a more mature economy.' Canadian direct investment in the United States rose by C$80.1 billion to C$311 billion last year. The Canadian dollar's 19-per-cent depreciation against the U.S. currency accounted for 65 per cent of that increase, the report said. Toronto-Dominion Bank has spent more than C$15 billion over the past four years expanding in the United States, buying Maine-based TD Banknorth and New Jersey-based Commerce Bancorp. U.S. investments in Canada rose by C$900 million to C$294 billion in 2008.

CBC News - Ontario targets companies' use of toxic chemicals (8 April 2009) Ontario proposed new legislation on Tuesday to get companies to cut back on their use of toxic chemicals. Environment Minister John Gerretsen said the legislation, if passed, would make Ontario the first province in Canada to require big companies to track and report on their use of toxic chemicals, as well as develop plans to cut their use of the substances, he said. While keeping track and coming up with a plan to cut chemical use would be mandatory, the proposed law will not force companies to actually implement their plans. It will be up to businesses to decide whether they want to follow through, Gerretsen said. 'But as a result of the public pressures that will be applied from the reporting of those plans, et cetera, we feel that in the long run, that is the better way to go than to come up with mandatory targets,' he said. That doesn't worry Aaron Freeman, policy director with Environmental Defence. 'It sounds troublesome, because we know that voluntary regulation doesn't work in a wide range of environmental areas,' Freeman said, 'but a model of mandatory reporting and then voluntary target-setting actually works very well.' The state of Massachusetts, for example, passed a similar law in 1989 and 10 years later, companies there had collectively cut back by half the amount of toxic waste they produced. The Ontario law is reportedly based on the one in Massachusetts. Sarah Miller, a spokesperson with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, is optimistic about the pending announcement, saying companies that reduce their use of dangerous substances often find it helps their bottom line.

From a Canadian Press report on this: Even without targets, the legislation will go a long way towards reducing harmful chemicals that have become so pervasive they're even found in the umbilical cords of unborn infants, said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence. The province will also kick in C$24 million to help industries switch to less harmful alternatives. The information collected from businesses will be posted on a government website, which will allow residents to find out which toxic chemicals are being used in their area.

Canwest News Service - New tidal turbine for Vancouver Island (8 April 2009) North Vancouver Island will soon be home to the first commercial-scale tidal current electrical turbine in North America. British Columbia announced it is giving C$2 million in funding to Canoe Pass Tidal Energy Corporation for the project. Company officials said the turbine will be running before the end of 2010 in the tidal channel between Quadra and Maude Island, north of Campbell River. The tides in the area are among the strongest and most reliable on the West Coast. The power created by the turbine will be connected to the BC Hydro grid.

CBC News - Scientists team up with B.C. firm to build biggest-ever optical telescope (8 April 2009) The design of a gargantuan telescope that will give astronomers their first glimpse into the farthest, faintest depths of the universe is well on its way. The initial design of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) has now been completed by B.C.-based Dynamic Structures. The TMT will be the largest optical telescope ever built, said Scott Roberts, the Canadian project manager for the joint U.S.-Canadian venture. 'What that means in practical terms is its sensitivity will be close to 100 times that of existing telescopes,' said Roberts, a mechanical engineer based at the National Research Council's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, B.C. 'So it opens up a whole new regime of possibilities for scientific exploration.' Scientists hope to be able to use the telescope to probe dark energy and dark matter, the formation and evolution of galaxies, and black holes and the origins of stars and planets. 'The telescope really will answer some of the major questions that we've posed as a society over the millennia,' Roberts predicted. The site for the TMT will either be in Chile or Hawaii. TMT's mirror will be 30 metres in diameter, nine times larger than the largest existing telescope. Canadian scientists have also been involved in developing instruments to be built in the telescope, including a planet-formation imager to search for planets around other stars.

The Canadian Press on Canadian and international scientists trace star origins in hidden galaxies (8 April 2009) A two-tonne telescope, dangling beneath a 33-storey balloon 60 kilometres above the earth, has given a team of Canadian and international researchers a glimpse at the birth of stars and maybe even the origins of the universe. The mission produced invaluable information for the team, which included astronomers and astrophysicists from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Toronto. The ancient stars born in dark clouds of dust millennia ago did give off sub-millimetre light. Unfortunately, that light cannot travel through air and is invisible to not just the naked eye, but even to powerful telescopes on earth. 'You've got to get out of the atmosphere,' said Barth Netterfield, whose University of Toronto team put together the experiment, and did the electronics and the software, as well as the analysis. So researchers built a sub-millimetre camera. BLAST—the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimetre Telescope—looked back at the peak of star formation in a galaxy 7 to 10 billion years ago.

From a CBC News report on this: The telescope was able to observe light from young, energetic star-forming galaxies. Now scientists have been able to publish their first findings of this previously mysterious time in the universe's history, when the universe was just a few billion years old. Part of the reason for the mystery is that light from these galaxies isn't visible to the human eye, because it is in the far-infrared and submillimetre wavelengths, a range of the electromagnetic spectrum which lies between radio waves and visible light. In just 11 days, the telescope found 10 times the number of submillimetre galaxies than had been detected in the last ten years. Many of these galaxies were Ultraluminous InfraRed Galaxies, very bright galaxies that produce hundreds of times more stars than the galaxies we are more familiar with, said UBC (University of British Columbia) post-doctoral fellow Gaelen Marsden, one of six Canadian researchers who worked on the paper. 'These are very large galaxies, which they have to be for us to see them from so far away,' he said. 'These are not like the galaxies we see today.'

From a Science Daily report on this: A group of astronomers and astrophysicists from Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. reveals in a study published 8 April in the science journal Nature that half of the starlight of the Universe comes from young, star-forming galaxies several billion light years away. 'Stars are born in clouds of gas and dust . . . . The dust absorbs the starlight, hiding the young stars from view,' says Barth Netterfield, a cosmologist in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto.'The history of star formation in the universe is written out in our data. It is beautiful. And it is just a taste of things to come,' says UBC Prof. Mark Halpern, part of the UBC team. Flying the telescope above much of the atmosphere allowed the BLAST team to peer out into the distant universe and uncover dust-enshrouded galaxies that hide about half of the starlight in the universe. 'BLAST has given us a new view of the universe,' says Netterfield.

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