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Charles Albert Hansman 1926-2009

03.02.10

Charles Albert Hansman was born on June 30, 1926, in North Bay, Ont., to Albert “Ab” Hansman and his better half, Edith. The youngest of three children, and only boy, Charlie, or Chuck, as he was known, was undemanding-spoken and had a keen interest in “anything that moved, walked or flew,” says ally Bob Kennedy. Charlie’s father, who worked for the Ontario Northland Train, was a founding member of the Laurentian Ski Club. Charlie “was unqualifiedly fearless on a pair of skis,” says Bob, and often won adjoining competitions.

In high school, Charlie focused on vocational classes. He began hanging around the Cottrill girls, six sisters who lived a few blocks away. Before hanker, he set his sights on Shirley, a tall, gregarious brunette with whom he shared gripping blue eyes and a love of skiing. Too shy to tell Shirley, three years his lower, how he felt, she heard from the other boys that she had, according to him, been spoken for. They started dating in 1947. He’d demand another nudge to ask for her hand: when Shirley, who was working at ONR, found out that Charlie, then training to become a journeyman at North Bay Hydro, wanted a car and a motor boat first, she bought him a car. They married in 1950. (Charlie began erection his boat in the basement.)

Source: Macleans.ca

All eyes on Iceland as vote nears on €3.8bn payout

29.01.10

SIMON CARSWELL Bankroll Correspondent in Davos, Switzerland

ICELANDIC president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson made a rare election for a political figure in the thick of one of the most severe financial crises to hit a developed land – he decided to put to a public vote a government payout that has the developing to damage the country’s economy for decades.

While most governments have ploughed in front with costly bank bailouts in the face of deafening community outrage, Mr Grimsson has unexpectedly given the Icelandic people a say, as the rural area grapples with its economic collapse following the meltdown of its banking system and currency.

The president refused to indication a Bill passed by the government, led by Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, approving the payment of €3.8 billion to Britain and the Netherlands for deposits buried in the collapse in one of the nation’s banks. The deposits were placed with Icesave, part of Landsbanki (former P of Dublin stockbrokers Merrion Capital and a one-time lover of Irish Nationwide Building Society) which failed along with the keep on being of the Icelandic banking sector in October 2008.

Source: Irish Times

NB politics is nothing, if not interesting

20.01.10

Part of me very wants to give the Shawn Graham government credit for, if nothing else, contemplative big over the last few years.

Major changes to New Brunswick's healthiness system, the education system and the big item on everyone's mind now, the NB Power-Hydro Québec conduct oneself treat, show that the Liberals are at least willing to shake up the landscape and status quo in an crack to, in their eyes one would assume, benefit us all.

Whether any of those decisions were the right ones or not isn't what I'm getting into in this gap, but public backlash over each would show that while Graham may be thinking progressively, possibly he's at least a bit out of sync with voters in the province.

I don't allege to be a political expert, but as someone whose job it is to gather information and dissect it to coin it all clear for readers, and simply as an interested observer, the state landscape in New Brunswick is nothing if not interesting.

On top of those issues, we have former justice divine Mike Murphy stepping out of the political bubble and back into on the sly life, and several MLAs announcing they couldn't in the original NB Power memorandum of understanding.

Source: Times and Transcript