CANADA

BANFF  

JASP

Canada is a fascination country. The land stretches from the Arctic in the north to the border of the USA. A great variety of climate and way of life of people. The economy is one of the best. 

Canada has as a simple the maple leaf. The red of the flag is a reminder of the blood shed by Canadian soldiers during World War I. The white is for the snow which covers Canada for up to six months of the year.

LAND

The extreme vegetation of the land, the variety of people and one of the most successful economies can only be found in Canada. The land reaches from dense forest with mighty evergreens to the prairies. It covers the arctic and the subarctic flora in the north. the forests are of spruce, hemlock, pines, firs and cedar trees.

The variety of wildlife you is unbelievable. There are several types of weasel, black and grizzly bears, lynxes, wolves, coyotes, foxes and skunks.

Polar bears are to be found in the arctic regions.

Pumas live in British Columbia and gophers are living in the plains.

Elk and bison are in the west and caribous live in the north.

Bighorn sheep and goats live in the mountains. Canada hasn't got any reptiles, apart from the far south, nor insects but for the mosquitoes.

The National Parks are of 730,000 sq km and are Jasper and Banff. Banff has four million visitors a year.

Only 5% of the land is suitable for farming.

PEOPLE

Canada's population is 40% British, 27% French, 20% European and 1.5% indigenous Indian and Inuit. The Inuit are official recognised as the First Nations. The rest is of any nationality of the world. The two official languages are English and French. The First Nations speaks one of the eleven native languages.

Most of the people live in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. French-speaking Canadians live mostly in Quebec.

Canadian people enjoy a high standard of living. Education is free and compulsory from 6 years till 15 or 16 years old Most go onto higher education. Social welfare is established in both states.and paid for by state-sponsored insurance programmes.

Half of the population are Catholics and half of them live in Quebec. The rest are Protestant, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and others.

Till the late 19th century the cultural influence was French and English. After that a Canadian style developed. The government is now trying to encourage to be a multi-cultural culture. This includes arts from aboriginal people. Famous personalities are writers are Margret Atwood and Robertson Davies and the musician Leonard Cohen to name but a few.

Canadian are known for their winter sport such as curling and ice hockey which win them medals in Winter Olympics.

ECONOMICS

Canada's trade with its neighbour the USA is 80%. It contains the manufactured transport equipment, food, machinery, paper, chemicals and metals. The workforce is of 42% trade and service, 25% of manufacturing and industry, 7% of administration. and 4% of agriculture, forestry, fishing and trapping.

The land is rich in natural resources of zinc, gold, silver, oil, natural gas, cobalt and uranium. As for hydroelectric power it is the world largest provider.

Another great economic factor is their farming and agriculture. They grow 20% of the world's wheat on their prairies. The major farming in the west have 15 million cattle. The farms also grow cereal crops, fruit, tobacco and soya beans. About 14% are forestry products and covers the demand of most of the world's newsprint.

Over a half of a century Canada has been fishing commercially. The north-west Atlantic and north-east Pacific supply cod, herring, salmon, flunder, lobster, scallops, crab and redfish.

The trapping has declined since 1990.

MARGARET THATCHER -- Update 1 May, 2014

UPDATE: 1 May, 2014 --  When she demanded a state funeral and to calm the crowd the government called it a ceremonial funeral; she put her main asset of her estate in a trust which is in the British Virgin Island. In other words she avoided for her family to pay taxes. That is the last legacy she gave to the country after all.  She made a fortune out of it while she ruins ordinary people and avoided to pay taxes to the country. 

UPDATE:  8 APRIL 2013 --  Margaret Thatcher died today. She left behind a legacy of unemployment and hardship after being premier minister. People fought hard to keep their jobs but to no avail. It is not easily to forget. I know it is not right to speak ill of the death but the facts remain and can't written differently.The funeral on Wednesday 17 April, 2013 and she will get a ceremonial funeral which means her coffin will be brought to the Westminster Abbey and from there on a gun-carriage taken to St Paul's Cathedral. She will then taken to the Royal Chelsea Cemetery where her husband's grave is. It will cost over £8million and many people wonder if it really necessary at a time of austerity? Also many people object for Margaret Thatcher to receive a ceremonial funeral.         

                                                                                         

Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Her father had two grocery stores and was a Methodist.

She read chemistry in Oxford and trained as a barrister.

In 1959 she became a Conservative MP in Finchley.

On her first election campaign she promised to revive the economy and won to be Prime Minister. She sold the public owned houses to the tenant and won with that her second election. But when the economy went bad because she privatise the nationalized companies and went bankrupt after a while. The people had to sell their homes and lost the deposits because they upkeep the mortgage.

She increased the interest rates which helped the people with money in the bank but not the business, especially the small ones. Then they started to close down.

She reduced spending on social services as education, higher education and housing. She stopped the School Milk.

She reduced the income tax (it wasn't that drastic) and increased the indirect tax.

Manufacturing output dropped by 30%

Margaret Thatcher broke up the nationalized British Shipbuilding which was always the backbone of Britain and the pride. At that time it employed 86,000 people mostly North - East. She privatised it and many went bankrupt because as individual shipyards they couldn’t' compete. BVT now employs 7,000.

At the privatisation Thatcher promised ordinary people shares and her popularity rose again but when the loss of jobs set in they had to sell the shares.

She allowed people to buy their own home which was government property. They bought it and Margaret Thatcher popularity rose but when the economy fell and they lost jobs by the hundreds and thousands they couldn't keep up their mortgage. They lost their home and deposit. She never built any houses to replace them and there started a shortage of council houses.

Mrs Thatcher de-regulated the private sector and especially the financial sector. From there on Banks and City could do as they like. We still suffer today because Bankers and City can get millions and billions of bonuses which broken banks and businesses.

The NUM called out a strike because they found out that they wanted to close 20 coal mining pits which would be a loss of 20,000 jobs in areas where poverty is widespread. Mrs Thatcher would not meet the Union's representatives. Controversial police tactics on the picket lines had at least three men killed and 11,300 miners arrested and got a criminal record. Yet all they were fighting for their jobs to feed their family.

It escalated so badly that it heading for a civil war.

After a year they had to give in and by 1992 they closed 97 coal pits and the rest was privatised or sold off. This destroyed whole villages, communities and businesses. These families must have been starving and on top of it all she stopped the school milk where the kids could have had at least some nourishment.

By the time Margaret Thatcher resigned there were over 5 million people out of work.

In 1982 Thatcher modernised the strategic nuclear forces and replaced Polaris with the Trident submarines for £10 billions

April 1986 Thatcher gave the USA permission to use the RAF base to launch an attack on Libya because of the alleged bombing of the Berlin Discotheque. UK was the only nation to sanction this move.

Thatcher tried to introduce the Poll Tax to raise revenue but after so many riots had to abandon it. But she quietly introduced the council tax which was the same with a different name.

After Margaret Thatcher had to resign, she became a peer and is now a Baroness Thatcher which is a lifetime peerage. She made sure that her husband became a baronetcy so that her son would inherit it after his father death.

She received the Order of Merit which is Britain highest order of distinction. In 1995 she received the Lady Companion of the Order of Garter, UK highest order of Chivalry.

After all she had done to the people, especially in the North, Midlands and Wales, who were nothing but hard working and badly done by in comparison to the South.

I will never know how these people survived.

The 'legacy' of Margaret Thatcher is still having an impact. She also allowed the pension fund to be used on the stock exchange with the result of BP having had it and now there are great losses in the shares. The ordinary man in the street loses its pension which he paid in all his working life. To use the pension fund in the stock exchange should have never happened.

SUMMARY: Although the Conservative Party still swears by her, of course, but as you can see Margaret Thatcher done a lot of damage to Britain. Damage which never can be undone. All the British big industries which were Britain's pride and envy of the world were demolished in one way or another.

UPDATE:

The latest scandal is that Margaret Thatcher received £500,000 for expenses. First of all what expenses? Thatcher has dementia for years and therefore can not go to functions. So it was said.

Apparently, these claimed expenses by ex Prime Ministers were established by John Major who was known as a glove puppet of Thatcher. Most properly Thatcher was behind it. John Major, Tony Blair all claim the expenses.

In ordinary life when a worker was sacked they do not get any expenses or further payments. Margaret Thatcher was ousted (sacked); John Major and Tony Blair were the same. Again it is them and not us.

Furthermore, how must people feel whose whole community was destroyed by Margaret Thatcher when she closed mines, shipyards and steelworks?

This is again from the taxpayers pockets and yet nobody in power says enough is enough and stops it. In today's financial situation it should not be allowed and it is that where cutbacks should be made.

When she died let's hope the payment to Margaret Thatcher was stopped. It would be no surprise if it were "forgotten" to be cancelled. 

WHO INVENTED BARBIE

RUTH HANDLER

The world famous Barbie doll was invented by Elliot Handler and his wife Ruth Handler. Barbie is a small plastic doll with a tiny waist, slender hips and impressive bust. It was created in 1959. The moment it went on the market the epidemic Barbie, Barbie broke lose.

The Handlers started in 1945 in their garage with their friends Harold Matson. They created the name Mattel from combining the names Matson and Elliot. By right it should have been Matel but somehow it became Mattel,

They first started to make picture frames and then dolls' house furniture and miniature music boxes. They never dreamed Mattel would be such a success.

A Uke-A-Doodle which was a ukulele sized down for a child to play and a Burp Gun were their first successes.

Ruth Handler suggested they should make a plastic doll like matured woman but her husband disagreed and suggested baby toys. He told her several times that no mother would buy a doll with a breast for her daughter. However, Ruth watched her daughter playing with paper dolls giving them adult roles. She was convinced an adult looking doll would be a commercial success.

Elliot Handler having still reservation but launched Barbie at the New York toy fair in 1959. They named the doll Barbie after they daughter Barbara. Barbie's boy toy Ken was named after their son and was launched two years later. Barbie and Ken were born.

The two plastic dolls were an instant success and Mattel annual sales were $100million by 1965. In no time every toy shop in the country and worldwide stocked them. Then they brought out more dolls which were named after their grandchildren.

Since Barbie and Ken became an icon, Handlers wanted to bring out toys for the boys. He introduced die-cast vehicles with speed, style, power and performance.

ELLIOT HANDLER

In 1968 Hot Wheels was born and ever since 10,000 different models were produced and found in every toy shop. Mattel estimates that about 41 million children have grown up with Hot Wheels models.

Handlers received an invitation to be co-chairmen at the Mattel's board in 1973. However, after a change of management at Mattel toys the atmosphere changed also and not for the better. They left in 1975. Handlers are the first people to be introduced into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 1989 while still alive.

Elliot Handler was born on 9 April 1916 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Denver, Colorado. He was the second of four brothers. He met Ruth when he was 17 years old in 1932. They married six years later. Elliot went to the old Art Centre School in Los Angeles to study industrial design. Ruth was working as a secretary at Paramount Studio.

One of his brothers, Sid, stated later that Elliot loved designing new cars. He revealed further that Elliot loved the designing part of the business and Ruth the commercial side.

Elliot Handler died on 21 July, 2011 at the age of 95 years old. His brother Sid said that Elliot was a quiet, kind man and he thinks that is why he liked toys because they make people happy.

Elliot and Ruth Handler experienced a great tragedy. In 1994 they lost their son Ken to a brain tumour. Ruth died eight years later. After that, Elliot, was living a quiet live. He loved painting and a rented studio.

His daughter named the cause of his death as heart failure.

SUMMARY

A story of two people who started their business in their garage and rose to enormous fame and fortune with their Barbie, Ken and Hot Wheels. Toys known to everyone and every toy shop will stock them. There is also a website www.barbie.com which gives more information. However, even with their enormous wealth they could not avoid heartbreak and tragedy when they lost their son, Ken, in their later years.

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FRIESIAN HORSES

As the name suggests, the Friesian Horse comes from Friesland in the Northern Netherlands. It is assumed that the breed came from the primitive forest horse. The Friesian has a known history of 400-600 years.

The Romans took the Friesian horse to England, and it might have influenced other horse breeds, including the Shire Horse, Clydesdale, Fell pony, and Dale pony.

In the Middle Ages, the horse was used to carry the Knights, who had heavy armour, into battles because of the Friesian's size and strength. A suit of armour could weigh well over 100 pounds. The horses' stylish appearance might have influenced the knights' decision to use them, also.

In the 12th and 13th century, through the crusaders, the eastern horses were mated with the Friesians. From the15th century until the 17th century, when the Netherlands linked with Spain, the demand for heavy war horses decreased as the battle armour changed. Andalusian blood was added to lighten the weight, and they became suitable for work as an urban carriage horse.

Friesian horses were also used in France and Spain by high dressage schools. They are still popular for their gentle temperament and their graceful appearance. Friesians have glossy black coats and long, wavy manes and tails. They have a pronounced high-stepping gait that is especially noticeable at the trot. These handsome mounts have long necks, expressive eyes, and small ears.

There are two basic types of Friesians - the baroque and the modern. Baroque Friesians have the typical body type of the original breed, with heavier bone and more substance. The modern Friesian is more of a sports horse, with more refinement and more height than its heavier cousin. With their beautiful heads, powerful bodies, and graceful movement, Friesians are gaining popularity in the United States, as well as in Europe. They can often be seen in the show ring, especially in dressage competitions. By doing a quick search on the internet for "Friesians for sale," you'll see that these horses are often very expensive.

HISTORY OF FC BARCELONA

The history of FC Barcelona is not only fascinating but so incredible. Surely not many people are aware of these facts.

Of all the football clubs this is an interesting history about FC Barcelona and its humble beginning.

In November 1899 when an advert appeared in the Barcelona Newspaper Los Deportes. It stated "Our friend and companion Hans Camper, former Swiss (football) champion being keen on organising some football games in the city asks anyone who feels enthusiastic enough to present themselves at the office of this newspaper any Tuesday or Friday between nine and 11pm."

Amongst all the hopefuls were three British guys Walter Wild and brothers John and William Parsons. Then came the brothers Arthur and Ernest Witty.

Wild became the first president of the newly formed Football Club Barcelona. Arthur and Earnest Witty were significant players and made sure they beat the FC Catalan. The success and the name of their home town made FC Barcelona a favourite of the Catalan nation.

Arthur Witty's grandson Michael, 74, is still living in Barcelona. He stated that his grandfather loved football. He and his brother Ernest were bored with the only other sport at that time was drinking gin. They challenged each other with running races.

So far we have only the very beginning of what will be FC Barcelona. Now the first step in Barcelona's history had to be taken.

They sat down and set-up the club with their friends Hans Gamper, John and William Parsons.

Arthur Witty made some golden rules by which Barcelona still plays.

1. Play good and fair, never talk, let alone discuss or argue anything with a referee.

2. If you lose, it's because the other side played better so shake them by the hand.

3. If you get hurt, pick yourself up. Keep going.

4. Act like a gentleman at all times.

Arthur Witty became president of FC Barcelona in 1903. He imported from England the first regulation-size balls and goal nets. Then there was another Englishman Stanley Harris in the team. Arthur encouraged a lot of youngsters to the first team. They were Comamala, Hornos, Quirante and Soler. They became the first stars.

During his presidency the team played their first International matches.

Barcelona's badge includes the St George's Cross because of the English originally established the club. The Witty brothers were schooling at Merchant Taylors' school, in Crosby, on Merseyside. Arthur was a forward and Ernest a defender. A story exists but it is not proved to be true. Arthur scored a winning goal for Barcelona wearing the rugby kit from his school. Therefore, the colours of blue and crimson were adopted by FC Barcelona and became famous. The story is plausible.

Michael, the grandson of Arthur, was remembering that when he was schooling in England his grandfather used to send him all the newspaper clipping showing Barcelona's results.

Michael said: "He would love the current team, he was very keen on home grown players and he would be so proud of the fact that eight of the Barca team were brought up here."

In 1917 the first full-time manager was elected and it was Jack Greenwell, another English influence. Greenwell played in England in a non-league team in Crook Town, Co Durham. He resigned as manger of Barcelona in 1923 but was so well regarded that they brought him back in 1931. He took the club to the top of the league again.

When the civil war started and General Franco forbids the Catalans to use their own native language the club took on another meaning. The people smuggled in their flags and spoke in their own language. The old stadium became a place to intentify with their culture and speak their language which is not Spanish.

Over the years there were an almost endless famous players coming through the iconic Camp Nou stadium and its club FC Barcelona.

World famous player Dutch legend John Cruyff was the only one who the longest time was being a manager.

Seven English managers which include the much loved Bobby Robson, Terry Venable who was nick named El Tel signed on big names like Steve Archibald and Mark Hughes, Gary Liniker was bought for £3million which was enormous for the '80s but he was a goal scorer and had a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over their enemies Real Madrid.

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QUEEN'S CROWN JEWELS

TOWER OF LONDONOWE

The Queen's Crown Jewels in the Tower of London always attracting a high number of visitors.

On the seventh anniversary of King Charles II coronation Samuel Pepys escorted the guest, which were definitely not sober anymore, to the City of London. Later he noted in his diary that he took them to the Tower of London and showed round. There were also the crown and sceptres, rich plate. He mentioned that they never saw it before and were pleased to see it.

The main attraction, they were not allowed to see was the Koh-i-Noor. The magnificent Indian Jewel which was presented to Queen Victoria in the mid-19th century. The rest of the crown jewels must have been as impressive as it is today.

Nearly two and half million people come to see these magnificent masterpieces last year. When inside you stand on a long conveyor belt which goes slowly round to enable everybody to look at the glass cases containing the crown jewels

Traditionally, monarchs had crowns to be everyday and a special one for their coronation. The Crown Jewels are the regalia used in ancient coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

The last time the Queen worn the Imperial State Crown was on the Sate Opening of Parliament last year. The St Edward's Crown which was made for Charles II in 1661 and weighs nearly 5lb is only used for crowning ceremonies. The last time it was used for 15 minutes was in 1953.

ST EDWARD'S CROWN

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Most of the Crown Jewels from the Anglo-Saxon period were lost by King John in the marshy area of The Wash in 1216. In the Westminster Abbey they kept a replacement set and that was stolen in 1303. The robbers were caught, received a nasty death and only some items were found.

After that they were kept in the more secured Tower of London. It didn't proof a complete safeguard for the Crown Jewels. When King Charles I was executed in 1649 and England became a republic under Oliver Cromwell the "trifles" of the monarchy were melted down.

Today's Crown Jewels dating back to the restoration of King Charles II. However, when they melted the crowns down, the jewels were kept in the Treasury. Therefore, the Black Prince Ruby still exists which King Henry V worn at Agincourt. Also the gold was not and will not be used for anything else. It is also in the Treasury.

Some coronations were more flamboyant than others. King George IV describes his as "gorgeous and extravagant. His Crown had 12,314 diamonds.

When his brother William IV was crowned and insisted on cutting cost. He made his German consort Queen Adelaide pay for her own crown which was with diamonds and coloured stones.

In 1838 due to a misunderstand the Coronation Ring was made too small for Queen Victoria and the Archbishop of Canterbury had to force it on to her finger. Later she wrote in her diary that she the greatest difficulties to take if off again and with great pain.

Gold Crowns have to be remade every century because the metal weakens and the stones could fall out. Therefore, The Imperial State Crown which was made for George VI in 1937, adapted for Queen Elizabeth II should be still perfect for the next coronation.

The Koh-i-Noor, was only used for female crowns because of the ancient Indian curse. It was in four different crowns since it came to Britain. Will the stone than be removed from the Queen Mother's crown when Camilla gets crowned? Apparently, the Queen Mother's crown was made with platinum-based which is much more stable.

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QUEEN VICTORIA BLOOMERS NICKED - TRUE STORY

QUEEN VICTORIA

It is a true story about Queen Victoria got her bloomers nicked

This is such a fascinating and amusing story about the bloomers belonging to Queen Victoria. A teen stalker was nicking the bloomers of the Queen and she was not amused when she found out.

A Cardiff University professor Dr Bondeson heard about this story and pieced it together from newspaper cuttings. He wrote a book about it and it is called Queen Victoria's Stalker which is on sale now.

The story was not very publicized until now because the whole affair was kept secret as much as possible.

Edward Jones was 14 years old and broke several times into Buckingham Palace. He sat on the throne and slept in one of the Royal beds -- no, not with Queen Victoria. He managed to slipped into the young Queen Victoria's apartment. He read her letters, and hit beneath her sofa. She was 19 years old at that time.

Queen Victoria remarked afterwards: "Suppose he had come into the bedroom how frightened I should have been."

The record shows that Jones broke in three times from 1838 to 1841. Every time he was close to the newly crowned Queen but for a few yards but then he was caught. On one occasion he tried to get out of the Queen's dressing room window with a pair of the Queen's bloomers stuffed down his trousers.

At the first time Jones was acquitted in an open court for theft. The following trials were held in secret to avoid publicity and embarrassing the Royal family. Twice he received a sentence of hard labour and in those days it was really hard labour. However, the moment he was freed he went back to the palace. Eventually the government had no alternative but to transport him to Australia. This at last would ensure Jones would be kept away far enough from the Queen and her husband Prince Albert.

This amazing and amusing story of Jones the teenage stalker was known to the police as Boy Jones. It was due to hard work of piecing it together from old newspaper reports by Dr Ian Bondeson that it became widely known. He stated that it was remarkable how close he got to the Queen and the extraordinary lengths it took to get rid of him.

The reason for this point was that they were worried about what Boy Jones might tell people. No one knew what he had seen or heard in the palace.

Dr Bondeson added: “The Boy Jones was the first known celebrity stalker in history. If he shown signs of madness they would have locked him up, but he was fully lucid. He was undesirable so they just stuck him on a ship to Australia and got rid of him."

Due to further research, Dr Bondeson found out that Jones was working as a pie seller in Australia. He died in his 70s on Boxing Day 1893 after falling off a bridge while drunk.

SUMMARY: There is no doubt the story of Queen Victoria's bloomers being nicked is a really amusing story. The author Dr Ian Bondeson must have just as fascinated and therefore done this hard work of research and written the book Queen Victoria's Stalker.

I hope you enjoyed ‘How Queen Victoria’s bloomers were nicked’ as much as I did. Thank you for reading it.Top of Form

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