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"Hi! Whats new?" was the voice over the phone. "Whats new!" I responded. Uhmm what is new, raced through my mind. It just seemed like a long time that I was asked that wasn't rhetorical. "Yup. Trains been so broken-down that I been working up in Sarnia because FAA has threatened to pull transport license in the US if the railway doesn't improve the condition of its fleet," said the voice. "I racked up 68 hours of overtime in 8 days," went on the voice. Well there is a lot happening but it isn't so new. I went on to say that my break wall had washed away a few days ago when the southerly winds turned into gales and drove breakers up on shore for a day or so. I have been wrestling with my insurance to cough up a cheque they committed to pay for a conditioning trainer for 6 more months. A long lost buddy had called up to meet for coffee earlier this week. I am leaving for Winnipeg next week to visit my Dad who went into palliative car...

France shuts border to trains from Italy to stop north African migrants and political activists from entering the country. France has shut its border to trains from Italy in an attempt to stop north African migrants and political activists from entering the country. The action drew a formal protest on Sunday from Rome and accusations it was violating European principles. A group of French and Italian activists had planned to board what they had dubbed The Train of Dignity in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia in support of migrants trying to cross the border. About 60 mainly Tunisian migrants were at the station seeking passage to France, and were given sandwiches and drinks by support groups. Italian railway and border police said France was preventing all trains passing the Ventimiglia-Menton border. Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, instructed the country's ambassador in Paris to express "the firm protest of the Italian government to the French authorities...

The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear plant laid out a blueprint Sunday for stopping radiation leaks and stabilizing damaged reactors within the next six to nine months as a first step toward allowing some of the tens of thousands of evacuees to return to the area. While the government said the timeframe was realistic, those forced to flee their homes, jobs and farms were frustrated that their exile is not going to end soon. And officials acknowledge that unforeseen complications, or even another natural disaster, could set that timetable back even further. “Well, this year is lost,” said Kenji Matsueda, 49, who is living in an evacuation centre in Fukushima after being forced from his home 20 kilometres from the plant. “I have no idea what I will do. Nine months is a long time. And it could be longer. I don't think they really know.” Pressure has been building on the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to resolve Japan's worst-ever nuclear power accid...

Desperate Japan dumps radioactive water in sea JAPANESE engineers were forced yesterday to release radioactive water into the sea while resorting to desperate measures such as using bath salts to try to find the source of leaks at a crippled nuclear power complex hit by a tsunami on March 11. Engineers also planned to build two giant "silt curtains" made of polyester in the sea to hinder the spread of more contamination from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, 240km north of Tokyo. The plant operator released low-level radioactive seawater that had been used to cool overheated fuel rods after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated water, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. "We have instructed strict monitoring of the ocean to firmly grasp the impact on the environment," said Edano. Operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said it would release more than 10,000 tons of contaminated water that was about 100 times more radioactive than legal ...