Steve Murphy of CTV conducted an interview with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today on Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

Realizing that possibly 582,000 jobs could be lost if the big three automakers do fold, Prime Minister Harper can confirm that Canada is now in a recession. Since December 2007 though, Canada has created jobs, and has been one of the only western countries to do so; however, job loss is now coming to effect in Canada as we head into 2009.

"I suspect that 2009 will be a very tough year. I think we will see probably about zero growth, probably negative growth at the beginning of the year, hopefully a little better as the year goes on," said Prime Minister Harper on assuming what the future economic landscape will look like in Canada. Harper also added that he has "never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking into the future."

The interview touched on a number of topics, one obviously regarding the coalition threat as they seek to overthrow the Conservative's minority government in January. Stephane Dion recently stepped down as leader of the coalition, per request by the Liberals, and was promptly replaced by Michael Ignatieff for an interim position.

Michael Ignatieff remains relatively unknown to Prime Minister Harper, but he does mention his intentions to work closely with him. That will only happen if the Conservatives remain in power after the vote of confidence on January 26, 2009 once Parliament resumes after this period of suspension. During the interview though, Harper didn't want to speak much of the coalition "shenanigans," as he termed it, because the real problem at hand is the economy, and that's what should garner his full attention as Prime Minister of Canada.

Prime Minister Harper states that he is extremely worried about the Canadian economy heading into 2009, and even into 2010 with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but he also says he's "very worried about the state of the world economy, particularly the American economy."

Harper added that, "It's pretty obvious to me that both the current (Bush) and the future (Obama) administration will do whatever is necessary to sustain economic activity in that economy."

Now Canada has joined the global recession, and though it was much later than other countries, the time to act is now rather than the delayed response by the American government all year. Prime Minister Harper will reveal the federal budget and stimulus action plan in January during the vote of confidence.

Prime Minister Harper has spoken with President-elect Barack Obama on a few instances, but nothing in sort of a prolonged instance as he has done recently with President Bush thus far. Harper does look forward in working hand-in-hand with Obama, come the New Year.

Regarding the future for Canada, the United States, and the rest of the world, Prime Minister Harper warned that we "could be" heading towards another Great Depression. He explained though that through the lessons learned of the recession in 1929 upon the fruition of the Great Depression in the 1930's, he believes that we have the knowledge and capability to avoid the mistakes upon prompting another Great Depression.

Regarding Canada's future plan, Harpers says he will, "Stick with a year of slow growth, run a deficient, do some spending measures we hadn't planned on doing." Harper believes that if we "do those things we should be able to come out of this pretty strong in due course."

"We want to bring in some recovery programs that will help us sustain economic activity and avoid some of the worst problems," explained Prime Minister Harper. Though this will essentially create more deficits for Canada, they will not be long-term deficits as it should rebound the economy into producing more avenues for jobs down the line.

Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, definitely has a plan going forward. Unfortunately for Canadians from coast to coast, we are still left in the dark as we have no idea who will be running our country after the vote of confidence on January 26, 2009.

I believe it's make or break for Canada come January 26th, and we'll make it if we can keep Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party in power. Sadly, we Canadian citizens do not have the power to keep the Conservative's minority government intact because the Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition looks to overthrow the government by nullifying our electoral votes.

We may be in for some dark days.

n Thursday, December 11, 2008, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated during the Egyptian ruling party that Teheran, Iran has been plotting to devour Arabian states.

The recent strenuous relationship between Cairo and Teheran has been well documented up to this boiling remark by President Mubarak of Egypt. However, the timeline of events have not made the press to a large extent, as the affairs of the new Cold War between United States-Israeli-European allies and Russian-Iranian opposition has been the forefront of world despair during the global economic crisis.

Throw in the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai that may instigate a potential war between Pakistan and India. Should the war come to fruition, a calling for global attendance may be needed. Stories like these are exactly why the bantering between Egypt and Iran has been pushed below the radar.

Basically Egypt has been out of sight and out of mind, until now.

During several demonstrations in Iran that led up to President Mubarak's comments yesterday, the topical threat of hanging Egypt's leader was realized. Iranian demonstrators threaten death to President Mubarak because they believe that the Zionist regime's severe crimes in Gaza were part of Egypt's plan to exert pressure on the Palestinian people.

Also outside the Egyptian diplomatic missions in Teheran, a hoard of people were heard chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," while burning an Israeli flag.

You can choose your side to this story, but as the timeline goes, Iran threw the first punch by accusing Egypt of faulty exertion over the Palestinian people. Furthermore, the death threats to President Mubarak are very undiplomatic but it's to be expected during this time of chaos erupting in these regions.

The Bush Administration has not reacted to any of this back and forth role-play, and it's likely that this issue will go unrecognized by President Bush for the remainder of his term in the White House.

President-elect Barack Obama will have to peddle towards a resolution once he is sworn in as President, should matters escalate further towards military action.

Meanwhile, President-elect Obama has his hands full with Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, Georgia, Israel, Poland, Germany, France, and Czech Republic among various different issues on both the allied front and the oppositional front.

One of the most well-known publication papers within the United States is now up for sale due to great deficits.

The Herald is one of the largest of 30 daily newspapers publicized by The McClatchy Company, with a daily circulation rounding to 210,000. Having won 19 Pulitzer Prizes puts The Miami Herald into a prized class of prestigious papers worldwide.

With newspaper sales shrinking at an alarming rate now during the current recession, The Miami Herald, which was part of the Knight Rider group that was originally purchased for $4.5 billion in 2006 by McClatchy, has now plunged to a $2 billion debt burden.

One of the main reasons for this dramatic drop is because advertising firms are no longer spending their money to place ads in the paper. So what prompts these firms to discontinue their spending with The Miami Herald, or any other paper for that matter? The consumer rate prompts it.

We are living in the modern age where newspapers have become an infrequent process of attaining information. Instead, people around the world are using the Internet as their number one source for all information they attain. Access through the Internet has increased tremendously by means of computers, cell phones, iPods, handheld devices, etc.

Thus far there have been no serious inquires regarding a purchaser of The Miami Herald. I cannot see anyone wanting to buy the paper unless they have a new innovative way of marketing The Herald. Even then, I don't see purchasing The Miami Herald a viable option for anyone during this recession.

I believe we'll soon see various newspapers become extinct.

I would like to direct fellow Canadians to the search "Canadians 4 Democracy" on Google.

Please go there to sign Prime Minister Stephen Harper's petition of the Conservative Party. The petition will be sent to the Canadian members of Parliament upon saying NO to Stephane Dion's Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition.

I voted Conservative on Canada's Election Day 2008 on October 14, and Stephen Harper won the election by Canada's choice that day. Harper was the re-elected Prime Minister, NOT Stephane Dion. So if you care for stability within Canada during these recessionary times, it would be best that you sign this petition!

I will be writing more about this matter tomorrow, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks pubically at 7 PM EST today. It is expected that Prime Minister Harper will suspend Parliament.

To my favourite neighbours,

With each passing year we relapse the Day of Thanksgiving, and for Americans on this day, there should be a lot to be thankful for.

First and foremost, we should all be thankful for the brave men and women, really our heroes, for battling through the depths of hell upon maintaining peace during the difficult War on Terror in the Middle East. We owe a lot of thankful wishes, prayers, and gratitude to them because without them this world would be a lot more chaotic than it already is. The armed forces are thankful for our support in return.

Secondly, be thankful to be given the greatest gift of all from God, and that's your life.

Life is what you make it, so keep on striving forward with your plan. Don't worry about how you are perceived by your peers, just know that you are satisfied with your self-being upon living the life you have constructed. If there are falls or mishaps just pick yourself up and keep moving forward.

There's always going to be an obstacle or two in life and you have to be willing to take those falls. Reason being is because I believe it's really not about how hard you can hit, but rather how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

Those who experience the worst are often those who prosper to the greatest length because they weren't afraid to take that risk upon reaching the ultimate reward in the end. Since they know the worst, they know how to counter the worst, and now they're thankful on Thanksgiving Day for the life they live a share.

Everyone is capable of creating happiness upon any degree. It's just a choice on if you want to or not. I know it's hard to fathom such an expression like happiness during tough global recessionary times, but it is possible my friends. Money isn't everything.

All the best on this Thanksgiving Day for America as we move forward to the plan of great "change" with the Presidential inauguration drawing near for President-elect Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.

From your friendly Canadian neighbour and ally,
Marcus Cyganiak