Amazing Stories

I am sure that you will not believe your eyes when you read this.

WHO NEEDS AN AIRPORT HUB

Forget shipping our vegetables to Europe to get the big bucks.

Edgar (aka Eddie) should demand that Canada let the Bridge Company build their Enhancement Project Bridge NOW.

Matty would then build a huge distribution warehouse for our local farmers and his trucking company would take our vegetables and ship them all over the US for our farmers to make really big money:

• "Florida's usually exports 11 million kilograms of tomatoes per week. But exports have fallen to less than a quarter of that, said Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Grower's Exchange.
  
  As a result, the average wholesale price for an 11-kilogram box of the fruit has jumped from US$6.50 last year to US$30.
  
  Fresh tomatoes cost consumers an average of US$1.64 a pound during the week of March 4, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's 22 per cent more than during the same week in 2009.
  
  The shortage was being felt by some American fast-food customers. Signs were posted at Wendy's restaurants saying tomatoes would be provided only if a customer requests them due to limited availability."

BORDER TERRORISM

An article in Canadian Business about border thickening but it brought up this bogeyman again:

• "With one stroke, Abdulmutallab compromised important border infrastructure investments by Canada and the United States as part of their economic stimulus programs. The plan was to ensure aging and insufficient infrastructure don't hamper the $1.6 billion in goods that crosses our common border every day. As well, our politicians worked together to bail out General Motors and Chrysler, which produce vehicles on both sides of the border. Bridges may be built and tunnels dug, but they can still be blocked by ever-increasing security rules. Thanks to Abdulmutallab and his explosive underwear, America is once again clamping down on border activity, even at the vital crossings that link Windsor to Detroit, the jugular vein in North America's body of trade.
  
  The companies hurt most include the Detroit automakers that Canadian and U.S. taxpayers are borrowing billions to keep afloat. In Canada alone, taxpayers are spending an estimated $1.4 million for every auto job saved, because the survival of these manufacturing giants is considered crucial to the stability of the North American economy...
  
  And the need to protect the Canadian and U.S. economies from temporary disruptions caused by terrorism is one of the reasons that an additional crossing between Windsor and Detroit is considered an absolute necessity by all levels of government on both side of the border. But fear of terrorism is slowing it down every day."

Let's get rid of this ridiculous DRIC justification once and for all. As a reader wrote:

• "We forget that we had redundant World Trade Center towers and terrorists knocked them both down. They didn’t come down because one building was too close to the other, they both came down because terrorists targeted both. Separate planes crashed into the two towers about 45 minutes apart. Otherwise, one tower might still be there. Even the dual Ambassador Bridge spans couldn’t be knocked down with a single attack."

BE NICE WITH OBAMA TOO STEPHEN

We dodged the bullet. This time:

• "U.S. exempts Canadians from $10 visitor fee
  
  The British will pay, the Aussies will pay, and so too will the rest of America's closest allies under a new travel initiative that will levy a $10 fee on visitors to the United States.
  
  Everyone, that is, but Canadians, who are exempt and will continue to enjoy fee-free travel on the merits of "our special relationship," U.S. officials confirmed Thursday...
  
  Travel patterns between Canada and the U.S., meanwhile, continue to tilt southward, with fewer Americans making the cross-border journey.
  
  In 2009, 20.5 million U.S. residents visited Canada, a 9.2 per cent decline from the 22.6 million in 2008, according to Statistics Canada."

Imagine the embarrassment for Sean O'Dell if that tax was imposed and border traffic died.

WHEN WILL THIS HAPPEN ON INDIAN ROAD

The fire, not expediting demolition:

• "Fire destroys MDOT-owned house
  Vacant home was slated for demolition in plaza project
  
  A home slated to be demolished as part of the Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion project met its demise Sunday after someone lit it on fire...
  
  Port Huron Fire Capt. Mark White said the fire was started in the back stairwell of the two-story home and quickly spread.
  
  There were indicators an accelerant was used to start the fire, he said. No gas or electricity was running to the building...
  
  The house is owned by the Michigan Department of Transportation and was slated for demolition as part of the Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion project, White said. The charred building will be boarded up and then torn down, he said...
  
  Rob Morosi, MDOT spokesman, said the house was slated to be torn down within the next month. He said if problems with the houses became a trend, the department would look into expediting the process.
  
  Joseph Conard, who lives across the street from the house, said he wasn't too surprised arson had come to his neighborhood.
  
  He said as the homes affected by the bridge plaza expansion have emptied, people have been breaking into them and taking whatever they can find.
  
  "I can almost say it wasn't unexpected," Conard said"