Ontario man charged in alleged US$70m Ponzi scheme

The Canadian Press
 An Ontario man charged by American authorities four years ago in an alleged US$70 million Ponzi scheme has been arrested after arriving at Toronto’s Pearson International airport.

Ontario Provincial Police say Nicholas Smirnow, of Lake of Bays, and his wife Dianna were arrested Friday night on outstanding warrants after getting off a plane from the Philippines.

Police have charged Nicholas Smirnow with two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one of possession of property obtained by crime in what a U.S. district attorney alleges was a scheme defrauding more than 40,000 people in upwards of 120 countries.

The Southern District of Illinois attorney charged Smirnow in absentia back in 2010 with 10 counts including mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

Al-Qaeda leader warns of revenge for airstrikes

The leader of al-Qaida's Syria affiliate vowed Sunday that his group would "use all possible means" to fight back against airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition and warned that the conflict would reach Western countries joining the alliance.

The U.S. views the affiliate, known as the Nusra Front, as a terrorist group, but Syrian rebels have long seen it as a potent ally against both the Islamic State extremist group -- which is the main target of the coalition -- and Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

Syrian rebels, activists and analysts have warned that targeting the Nusra Front will inject more chaos into the Syrian conflict and indirectly help Assad by striking one of his main adversaries. 

The U.S. insists it wants Assad to step down, but is not targeting his forces, which are best placed to benefit from the airstrikes.

In a 25-minute audio recording, Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani portrayed the U.S.-led coalition as a "Crusader alliance" against Sunni Muslims and vowed to fight back.

Beware! 11 Attributes of Emotional Manipulators

Canadian Islamic State Fighter Warns Of Possible Attack In NYC

A twentysomething Islamic State (IS) fighter from Calgary who was reported dead is alive and well and says that fellow combatants are planning an attack in New York.

In an interview with Vice News founder Shane Smith, Farah Mohamed Shirdon said IS has as many as 10,000 to 15,000 fighters with ambitions well beyond the Middle East.

"Inshallah [God willing] we'll make some attacks in New York soon with Allah's permission," he said. "A lot of brothers are mobilizing there right now, in the West."

"What are they mobilizing for?" Smith asked.

"Mobilizing for a brilliant attack, my friend," he responded.

Shirdon outlined Islamic State's intentions to fly its flag over the White House, to turn infidels' children into slaves, and to "crucify Benjamin Netanyahu for his war crimes."

"That's maybe, maybe when we still stop," Shirdon said.

Quebec to sanction drivers who text

Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poeti is considering tougher sanctions against drivers who are caught texting, including hitting them with four demerit points.

Currently, Quebec motorists caught texting can lose three points and be fined up to $100.

Poeti said Wednesday it is difficult to assess the extent of the problem but added that many accidents are caused by motorists using their smartphones while at the wheel.

While it has been illegal since July 1, 2008, to drive in Quebec while holding a cellular phone, the number of motorists who have been nabbed doing so has climbed to 66,089 in 2013 from 11,485 for the last six months of 2008.

A survey conducted for the province's automobile insurance board in November 2013 suggested that 19 per cent of Quebec motorists who have a cellphone used it to text while driving.

ISIS Threatens Canadians in New Audio Recording

In response to a new audio recording encouraging Islamic State supporters to kill Canadians, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada is continually looking at new ways to fight security threats from both organizations and individuals.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Harper told reporters that Canadian security agencies are constantly monitoring and tracking security threats. The government is also looking at ways to strengthen laws and co-operate with allies to mitigate threats, Harper said.

He added that Canada's military contribution to a U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State -- also known as ISIS or ISIL -- is an "important" part of fighting the extremist group.

The Islamic State has released a 42-minute propaganda audio recording, during which followers are urged to kill Canadians.

The commitment of Canadian special ops forces to serve in a non-combative advisory mission, as well as humanitarian aid, is a critical component to fighting IS, he said.

Harper added: "We are continuing our dialogue with our allies to identify ways that we can assist in responding to what is a genuinely serious threat.”

Alarming | ISIS urges attacks on Canadians

The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham called for attacks on Canadians on Sunday in an apparent attempt to deter members of the military alliance that has formed to challenge the terrorist group.

In a 42-minute audio speech, Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani urged ISIS supporters to kill Canadians, Americans, Australians, French and other Europeans, regardless of whether they were civilians or members of the military.

“Rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be. Do not ask for anyone’s advice and do not seek anyone’s verdict. Kill the disbeliever whether he is civilian or military, for they have the same ruling,” he said.

“Both of them are disbelievers. Both of them are considered to be waging war. Both of their blood and wealth is legal for you to destroy, for blood does not become illegal or legal to spill by the clothes being worn.”

Canada is part of a U.S.-led alliance that has begun mobilizing to defeat ISIS, which has been committing widespread atrocities against Syrians and Iraqis in an attempt to impose its barbaric version of Islamic law in the region.

Nude Fantasy | iCloud Hackers Turn on Rihanna

The hackers got Rihanna too and share her naked pics. No big deal as Rihanna has shared many half naked photos of herself so she probably doesn't care. Her own pics were released by the iCloud hackers yesterday. See the censored versions after the cut...

New Study Reveals Bras With Underwire Is Not Carcinogenic

This study was part of a larger project called the SHARE Study (Seattle Area Hormone and Reproductive Epidemiology Breast Cancer Study).

They may be uncomfortable, pinch your skin and leave red marks. But no, bras do not cause breast cancer.

A study of 1,500 postmenopausal women, recently published in a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, dispels the myth that wearing a bra increases the risk for breast cancer.

The population-based study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention compared the bra-wearing habits of 454 women with invasive ductal carcinoma and 590 women with invasive lobular carcinoma — the most common types of breast cancer — with 469 women who did not have breast cancer.

Researchers found no aspect of the brassiere — including cup size, hours worn per day, age at which one started wearing a bra, or whether it had an underwire — was associated with increased risks for breast cancer.

Double mastectomies mean higher survival rates for some cancers.

Canada Have A New Drug Problem And Is Not Weed Or Coke,

 

A new study shows prescriptions for high-dose formulations of opioids like oxycodone and morphine jumped by 23 per cent in Canada between 2006 and 2011, despite guidelines advising doctors against giving most patients such elevated doses.

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found the rates of high-dose opioid dispensing across Canada increased from 781 units per 1,000 people in 2006 to 961 units in 2011.

Put another way, that's almost one high-dose opioid pill or patch for every person across Canada.

Dispensing rates remained relatively stable over the six-year period in Alberta and British Columbia, while rates in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan rose dramatically.

Ontario had the highest dispensing rate at 1,382 units per 1,000 people, while Quebec had the lowest rate at 368 units per 1,000 people.

Provinces also differed in which opioids were most often prescribed. In Alberta and Ontario, oxycodone was the top choice, while B.C. doctors most often prescribed morphine.

How Dangerous Is Hells Angels In Canada Community?

The Hells Angels gang isn’t just “long-haired bikers with beer guts,” but a wealthy multinational business with all sorts of product lines determined to do anything to protect its business, warns the author of a new book, “Angel Dust.”

The Angels are a “clear and present danger to our social fabric,” says Alex Caine, a retired “professional infiltrator” who offers an insider’s view of one of North America’s most notorious organized crime syndicates, documenting its brutal violence and meteoric growth.

Caine, who spent 30 years working for organizations such as the FBI and RCMP, that Canadians ought to pay closer attention to how the gang targets children. “You hear about how [a 14-year-old] shot another 14-year-old,” he says. “Who bought the guns for them? Who supplied the drugs they’re dealing? It’s all one step back, and it’s all the Angels.”

The former undercover agent also says the Angels have moved beyond drugs, prostitution and pornography into more legitimate businesses, including real estate, currency exchange and online gambling. They also target mom and pop shops, demanding a cut of profits.

And they don’t let oceans stand in their way: members were involved in human smuggling in Germany and procuring ingredients to make methamphetamine in Australia.

While Caine says police have had some success making arrests, accused gang members have the money to hire top lawyers, so they don’t always end up behind bars. “In Montreal they released [31] of them,” he says, “because everybody has a right to a speedy trial.”

Caine is a Vietnam War veteran from Quebec. He previously wrote “The Fat Mexican,” about his experience with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, whose members and associates were convicted in 2009 for the murders of eight bikers in Ontario, and "Befriend & Betray," also

CTV

Dangerous to Sleep With a Cell Phone

It Dangerous to Sleep With a Cell Phone Under Your Pillow:

Most experts agree with the warnings to avoid sleeping with a cell phone under your pillow.

The “under the pillow” angle of cell phone radiation is just a subset of a larger discussion on the topic of cell phone radiation in general. Though there is some evidence to support harmful effects of cell phone use on the brain, the jury is out on brain cancer or brain tumors and cell phone use.
Nevertheless, most experts advise taking the safe route and limiting unnecessary extended exposure, such as sleeping with a cell phone next to your head.

Ways to Reduce Cell Phone Radiation:-

While the debate rages, many people prefer to err on the side of caution and try to minimize their cell phone radiation exposure. Such steps include:

-Keeping cell phone several feet away while sleeping.
-Using speaker instead of talking directly into the handset.
-Text instead of talking.
-Use headphones or Bluetooth connectors.
If you are using your phone at night for its clock or alarm features, consider putting it in “airplane mode” which suspends the phone’s transmission functions.

Canada Has Dutch Disease, Bank Of America Declares

Canada's reliance on oil is "unambiguously good" for the country as a whole — not just the West — Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said Friday in a speech that called for more pipelines and dismissed fears about so-called Dutch disease.

Rather than blame high-priced oil and other commodity exports for the decline in manufacturing, central Canada should seize more of the bounty by building pipelines and refineries to where the markets are in Ontario and Quebec.

"Higher commodity prices are unambiguously good for Canada," Carney told a conference of business leaders and international policy-makers in Calgary.

"The strength of the Canadian resource sector is a reflection of success, not a harbinger of failure."
Canadians should find new ways to take advantage, said Carney. He points out that eastern Canadian consumers are importing oil at prices that average $35 a barrel more than what western heavy oil producers receive.

"New energy infrastructure — pipelines and refineries — could bring more of the benefits of the commodity boom to more of the country," he said.

The central bank governor has spoken out before against critics of Canada's dependence on natural resources, particularly as rising demand from emerging markets in Asia have caused prices to rise, and the Canadian dollar to climb to and past parity with the U.S. The flip-side has been that manufacturers have found it difficult to cope in foreign markets, a phenomenon dubbed as Dutch disease.

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair this year blamed the dynamic for the decline in central Canada's manufacturing sector, since their exports have become uncompetitive in global markets.

What Private Health Care Could Benefit Canada

Health care is an issue that evokes strong emotions, which can sometimes lead certain commentators to console themselves with fine principles rather than adopt a pragmatic, results-based vision.

In an article published by the Globe and Mail on July 22, Colleen Flood, a University of Toronto law professor, sets out to warn Canadians against the risks involved in allowing the private sector to play a greater role in the field of health care. She writes, "The jewel of Canada's health care system is the commitment to restrict private finance for medically necessary hospital and physician care." But this "jewel" is more glass bauble than precious stone.

Using clever rhetoric, Professor Flood tries to convince her readers that the Canadian health care system's relatively mediocre performance is due to the substantial amount of private care available in this country. Her argument rests on a recent Commonwealth Fund (CWF) study of 11 industrialized countries in which the Canadian system is at the bottom of the pack when it comes to quality of care (9th), efficiency (10th), equity (9th), and overall health level of the population (8th), and ranks dead last in terms of timely access to care (11th).

Professor Flood gets one thing right: Public spending does indeed cover 70 per cent of overall health care expenditures in Canada. This statistic, however, is misleading. A very important distinction, of which Professor Flood is well aware, is that spending for care deemed medically necessary -- which means practically all care provided in hospitals and medical offices -- is entirely covered by the public system. As for expenditures that are financed privately, they essentially include dentistry, optometry, massage therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, and spending on drugs outside of a hospital setting.

This distinction is absolutely crucial, since it is precisely those services considered to be medically required that Canada's public system struggles to provide effectively to patients -- and it is those services that were the subject of the CWF analysis. Of the 80 performance indicators used by the research organization, only a handful measured health services not covered by our public system.

It is true, as Professor Flood mentions, that most European countries provide public coverage for prescription drugs, unlike Canada. Interestingly, though, the CWF report shows that Canada actually outperforms most of the countries evaluated in terms of the poor's access to these products. Only 8 per cent of Canadians with below-average incomes said they had not taken a prescription drug because of cost considerations in 2013, which places Canada fourth in the CWF ranking on this measure. The corresponding figure for New Zealand, a country that has universal public coverage for prescription medications, is 18 per cent.

Worst Places Canadians Use Mobile Phone

Canadians are really, truly terrible at using their cell phones, and they know it.

That's according to a survey conducted by Leger for PC Mobile. It found that 75 per cent of the 1,336 respondents admitted to breaking social etiquette with their phones, while almost two-thirds (63 per cent) said the issue is growing worse, according to a Tuesday news release.

Statistics that were of most concern in the survey were listed as follows:

Almost 23 per cent of people in the study said something bad happened to them while distracted by their phones, the most common being running into people or hitting a post or wall, the news release said.

The survey isn't alone in raising concern about phone use in the bathroom. A 2013 survey of 1,000 people in the U.S. found that 59 per cent of respondents had used their phones in the bathroom, News.com.au reported.

And more recently, a worker in Calgary wrote into The Globe and Mail's "Corporate Governess" advice column and asked whether it was improper for him to take an important call while he was on the toilet.

The answer? "Just don't do it."

The column quoted microbiologist and University of Toronto professor James Scott, who said that "there are lots of bacteria and viruses that transmit through fecal-oral route, which is self-descriptive."
Scott added, however, that the possibility of bacteria on a device making you sick is "still hypothetical."

Elsewhere, businesses are taking steps to reduce mobile phone use and increase interaction among their customers.

Vancouver bar Score on Davie has installed optional lock boxes for cell phones, while the keys are left with bartenders.

People can retrieve their phones, but they have to buy a round of shots for their group or receive some other penalty first.

Canadians do, however, appear to be tackling the problem of mobile phone overuse on their own.
Two-thirds of participants in the Leger survey now set rules in their families when it comes to using mobile devices, whereas only a third did so in 2012.

Almost half of respondents limit their family's time on phones, while only one-third did that two years ago.

Quebec Legislation On E-Cigarettes: No Sale To Minors, No 'Vaping' In Public

This September 25, 2013 photo illustration taken in Washington, DC, shows a woman smoking an 'Blu' e-cigarette (electronical cigarette). The National Association of Attorneys General on September 24, issued a letter urging the US Food and Drug Administration to clamp down on the fast-growing e-cigarette market, saying manufacturers are enticing teenagers to smoke with cartoon characters, television ads and bubble-gum flavors. AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AF | JIM WATSON via Getty Images

The Quebec government may soon crack down on the sale of electronic cigarettes, if Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois has her way.

Charlebois wants the sale of e-cigarettes to minors banned. She also wants to apply the same rules to e-cigarettes as to real cigarettes under the Tobacco Act — meaning people wouldn’t be able to use e-cigarettes freely in public spaces.

André Beaulieu, spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society, said it’s about time.

“We just issued numbers two days ago showing kids in high schools and even at level 6 in primary schools are using the product,” Beaulieu said. “Just in primary school, we estimate that 5,000 kids… have already tried the project and that 142,000 high school students have tried e-cigarettes in the past.”

And those are just Quebec statistics.

He said e-cigarettes are marketed as a safe alternative to smoking, and it’s that perception of safety that is causing young people who would never otherwise smoke, to smoke.

“We’re re-normalizing the act of smoking,” Beaulieu said. “We want to avoid a new generation of smokers.”

Legal grey zone

Currently, e-cigarettes are not authorized for sale in Canada — but they’re not illegal. E-cigarette products containing nicotine or products that make health claims, however, are.

Five Important Things Every Traveler Need to Know About Ebola

Now that the second American aid worker who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia has arrived back home on Tuesday for treatment at an Atlanta hospital, some global travelers may be wondering what they need to know about the deadly illness. British Airways on Tuesday temporarily suspended flights to West Africa, and other airlines say they are closely monitoring the situation. Here are some answers to questions about Ebola, what airlines are doing and whether it is safe to fly.
       

Q. Should I Worry about Ebola?

A. No, not if you live in a developed country, say health experts. However, in West Africa there have been at least 887 deaths in the current outbreak, out of a total of 1,603 reported cases, a fatality rate of about 60 percent. Symptoms may appear anywhere from two days to three weeks after exposure, and there is no vaccine and no specific treatment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upgraded its travel advisory for West Africa on Thursday because of the Ebola outbreak, saying people should avoid nonessential travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

 

Q. Could Ebola Spread to the U.S. Through Air Travel?

A: Not likely, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Although the Ebola virus is just a short plane ride from anywhere, he reminds travelers that the virus is only spread through direct contact with an infected person. "The important thing to remember is that Ebola is only spread through contact with blood and body fluids," he said. "People with Ebola are only contagious when they are showing symptoms." Of more concern for airlines, he said, are infectious airborne viruses such as measles or influenza that sick people may spread before they even know they are ill.

Montreal Gangland Killings



A police car sits outside the church during the funeral of mob boss Vito Rizzuto in Montreal December 30, 2013. Rizzuto died of natural causes in a hospital on December 23, 2013. Ducarme Joseph, a 46-year-old once described by police as the city’s most dangerous street gang leader, died in the middle of the road just metres from his mother’s home in the rough-and-tumble neighbourhood of St-Michel last Friday night. Mr. Joseph was believed to be linked to the 2009 shooting of Vito Rizzuto’s son, Nicolo Rizzuto.
(Christinne Muschi For The Globe and Mail)

A burst of gunfire that killed a leading Montreal gang figure and shattered months of relative peace in the city’s underworld may mark the launch of a new era of upheaval, or may just be the final act of the last war.

Ducarme Joseph, a 46-year-old once described by police as the city’s most dangerous street gang leader, died in the middle of the road just metres from his mother’s home in the rough-and-tumble neighbourhood of St-Michel last Friday night. Mr. Joseph led the 67 gang – named for a neighbourhood bus route.

The high-profile murder may finally be the execution of an old vendetta from the Montreal Mafia, or may be the Hells Angels sending a message to street gangs that the bikers are back after several years on their heels. Both theories may be true, according to Maria Mourani, the independent Montreal MP who has written two books on street gangs.

“It seems like a page being turned,” Ms. Mourani said. “The Hells Angels are restructuring and reconstituting after almost being eradicated. The Mafia and the bikers may be renewing their historical relationship divvying up organized crime, and sending a message to street gangs that they must yield. I think it’s two-for-one.”

Canadian Returning From Nigeria Shows Ebola Symptoms

 

 

 

 

A Canadian who recently visited Nigeria is being held in isolation at Brampton Civic Hospital in Ontario for showing symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease.

 

According to a Canadian public health official, the patient was reported to be showing initial symptoms of Ebola which were similar to more common diseases, such as malaria.

 

Dr. Eileen de Villa of Peel Public Health told The Globe and Mail that “infection prevention and control measures” had been put in place at the hospital because a patient “with a recent travel history to Nigeria” had shown symptoms similar to the Ebola fever and other flu-like symptoms.

 

Dr. de Villa said she received information from her colleagues at Brampton Civic Hospital and representatives from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

 

She added that the hospital would be working with public health laboratories to confirm a diagnosis.

“Any subsequent actions will of course depend on what the ultimate diagnosis is,” she said.

 

The Public Health Agency of Canada has advised Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the outbreak, but issued a statement, saying the risk of Ebola to Canada is very low.

Global Alert! Ebola epidemic 'out of control'

Global medical charity Doctors Without Borders has given warning that the Ebola crisis in West Africa is "unprecedented, absolutely out of control", as states across the world took steps to prevent its spread.

Bart Janssens, the charity's director of operations, warned there was no overarching vision of how to tackle the outbreak, in an interview with Belgium's  La Libre Belgique newspaper.

"This epidemic ... can only get worse, because it is still spreading, above all in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in some very important hotspots," Janssens said.

"We are extremely worried by the turn of events, particularly in these two countries where there is a lack of visibility on the epidemic. If the situation does not improve fairly quickly, there is a real risk of new countries being affected.

"That is certainly not ruled out, but it is difficult to predict, because we have never known such an epidemic."

More than 670 people have died of Ebola in the outbreak, the largest on record since the disease was detected in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organisation has met global health officials to discuss measures to stop the disease from crossing borders. The pan-African airline ASKY suspended all flights to and from the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The EU allocated an extra $2.7m to fight the outbreak, bringing total funding to $5.2m.

"The level of contamination on the ground is extremely worrying and we need to scale up our action before many more lives are lost," said the EU's humanitarian aid commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva

The bloc has deployed experts on the ground to help victims and try to limit the contagion.