Peralta, Cortez Secure Olympic Soccer Final Berth for Mexico

Mexico made soccer history at Wembley today.  In a close match, second half goals by Oribe Peralta and Javier Cortez secured a 3-1 win over Japan.

In a fairly evenly balanced first half Otsu put got the go ahead goal for Japan in the 12th minute. Mexico's Fabian got the equalizer in the 31st minute.  The sides went into the dressing room with a 1-1 tie, setting up a nailbiter for the second half. 

After stealing the ball off a Japanese defender, in the 65th minute, Peralta fired the subsequent shot into the  left corner, giving Mexico a 2-1 advantage.  Full Story @allvoices.com

Obama Campaign: A Bottomless pit of Morals

Nothing seems to be too low when it comes to discrediting presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.  Over the past few months we have seen reiterations of Romney's time at Bain Capital and the claim that he hasn't paid taxes for ten years.  To add insult to injury, Obama's Super Pac, Priorites USA is now claiming that Mitt Romney is responsible for the death of a woman after Bain Capital closed a factory. 

The Obama campaign seems confident that Florida Senator Marc Rubio will be Romney's choice as Vice President.   The director of Obama for America in Florida, Ashley Walker,  send out an e-mail soliciting dirt on the Senator.

“Share what you think the rest of the country should know about what Rubio’s really done in Florida, the good, bad and ugly.  And why he’d be a disaster as our next vice president,” the e-mail said. Full Story @allvoices.com

Olympics: Team USA defeats Canada in a hard fought match in Women Soccer

The first twenty minutes of the match saw the U.S. dominate, although there were very few chances on either side.  The Canadian women didn't do a lot of short passing in the midfield and gave up possession to the U.S. way too often.  A long pass into the box by Tancredi found Christine Sinclair, who made no mistake and sank the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Canada's game plan changed significantly after Sinclair's goal, by controlling the play in the midfield and maintaining possession.  The US women tried their luck with long passes trying to find Morgan, who had a couple of close calls, which were either stopped by Canada's keeper, McLeod or went just wide of the net.  Cheney and Wambach also had several attempts of goal go off target. Canada's efforts paid off and assured that the 1-0 lead was taken into halftime. Full Report at Allvoices.com

Alberta's Crony Capitalism on Display

While there are reports of inadequate care for our seniors, the Alberta Health Services (AHS) had to reach an agreement with its CFO to cancel his contact.  Apparently a Freedom of Information query revealed that , Allaudin Merali, who was looking after AHS' finances had some very expensive habits.

Elaborate dinners, wine selection, repairs to his personal vehicle all were authorized expenses to the tune of $350,000 over a three and a half year period.  He was also cited for overspending while working as a consultant for the Ontario government.

All that didn't deter Alberta's Progressive Government to hire him as CFO for the AHS Superboard.  To add insult to injury, the person that approved all these expenses, Sheila Weatherill, former Capital Health head honcho,  also sat on the AHS Superboard until her resignation yesterday.

Weatherhill apparently received $1.5 Million in severance when the Alberta Health Services Superboard was created.  Go figure and then she was rehired to sit on that board.  Does it smell of crony capitalism?  You bet.

The budget passed by the PCs in April is proving to be and "Alice in Wonderland" budget.  It was to generate Billions in surplus in a couple of years, based on bogus projected oil prices at $100 a barrel.  Needless to say the market is not even remotely close to that.  Working with an $800 million deficit, based on those estimates, you can rest assured that it will be much higher and will need revision during the next legislative session.

With both the XL Keystone and Northern Gateway pipelines being questioned, Alberta may end up having to put the breaks on oilsands development.  That in itself will impact on royalties.  So far Alison Redford refuses to discuss the issue with Christie Clark and native groups are bound and determined to stop it.   At some point someone needs to talk.

With the recent spill of an Enbridge pipeline in Wisconsin, the XL Keystone project could be delayed for another year.  Meanwhile the Premier has traveled to London to sell Alberta at a cost of $84,000.  Message to the Premier:  "Brits hate the sealhunt and the oilsands, a few days visit will not change that."  Money well spent?  Not likely.

The question is will the PCs raise taxes or make cuts to current programs?  It will probably be a mixture of the two.  Isn't it strange how the Wildrose Party was demonized during the last days of the election campaign?  Yet much of what was predicted is starting to ring true.

While the scandal of overspending is presently raging in the Alberta Health Services, it calls into question in what other department the PCs have lost control?

While bureaucrats are taking the hit for the out of control spending for expense claims in the AHS, the buck should really stop with the Minister, if not the Premier.   After all, isn't the government accountable to the public?  Let's see how this plays out.  The next legislative session won't be pretty.  For the Tories is is business as usual.  After 41 years in power, there appears to be a culture of entitlement. 

Syria: The Battle for Damascus and Aleppo

The battle in Syria has boiled down to a test of strenght in both Damascus and Aleppo. Aleppo is of strategical importance for the Syrian Free Army (SFA). Control of that city of 3 Million, would give the SFA a foothold, not unlike Benghazi during the Libyan conflict.
The Syrian conflict could be a lengthy affair, which weakens the whole region. Koffi Annan resigned his position yesterday as the Syrian peace envoy.
"It is impossible for me or anyone to compel the Syrian government and also the opposition to take the steps to bring about the political process," said Annan, former UN secretary general.
"You have to understand: As an envoy, I can't want peace more than the protagonists, more than the Security Council or the international community for that matter."  Full Story @allvoices.com

FC Bayern: Test Game in Kaiserslautern

With just 11 days prior to the biggest pre-Bundesliga tests of all, the DFB Super Cup, Bayern Muenchen had another successful game against relegated club 1.FC Kaiserslautern.
25,000 spectators watched the game in the Betzenberg's "Fritz Walter Stadium". Schweinsteiger, Alaba, Pizarro, Contendo, Rafinha and Ribery were not in the line-up.
Bayern dominated the game, which wasn't much of a surprise. In the 23rd minute Bayern scored the opening goal, when Gomez missed a pass from Robben inside the 16 meter area, Mueller rushed in and put the ball into the net 1-0 Bayern.Full Story @allvoices.com

Integrity of Elections in Canada and the United States

The Canadian Situation on Voter Fraud
Election fraud has become a major issue in Canada. There have been allegations of the Conservative government affecting vote results by using robocalls (automated calls) to send voters to a different polling station. The issue is presently under investigation by Elections Canada.
"OTTAWA — The IP address used to send misleading robocalls to Guelph voters on election day was the same address used by a worker from the campaign office of local Conservative candidate Marty Burke, Elections Canada investigators believe.
The Internet Protocol address — like an Internet phone number — was used by campaign worker Andrew Prescott to arrange legitimate calls through RackNine, the Edmonton voice broadcasting firm.  Full Story@allvoices.com