P-83 Canada's leader to assert Arctic claim

MONTEBELLO, Quebec - Canada's prime minister is expected to assert his nation's claim to the fabled Northwest Passage through the warming, resource-rich Arctic at talks with President Bush that start Monday.

Canada claimed the passage in 1973 but competition to control the Arctic has intensified with global warming. Shrinking polar ice has raised the possibility of new shipping lanes and development of what one U.S. study suggested could be as much as 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas.

Russia sent two small submarines to plant a tiny national flag under the North Pole this month. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper went to the Arctic earlier this month and announced Canada will build a new army training center and a deep-water port in the Northwest passage.

SSDD.....Same Shit Different Day... And the shit just keeps getting deeper... and so the silent majority sits in a mental stupor, unaware that their eyes are tuning brown.... See my old blog post in 2006 Oct

JR