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by Tabia Lau (facebook) on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 6:51pm · My Dear Montreal, I miss you like nothing else. Montreal, your walls of concrete and collapsing bridges, your tardy buses and delayed metros. Your incidents that causent un ralentissement for a duree indeterminee sur la ligne orange in my direction. Oh Montreal, your potholes and signs of ARRET and odd hilltop slopes. Your grey skies and hesitant Autumns with children rattling off numbers in a playground in broken Quebecois and your speedy Springs and torrential snowfalls in February and April. Your french baguettes and hipsters on Ste-Catherine on bixis and plaid hats with red squares. Montreal I miss your Tam tams. I'm homesick for your noise, Montreal. I miss the buses driving by, I miss the pitter-patter of jaywalkers, the french chatter on St-Denis and the gusts of winds up on Mont-Royal. Oh I miss Mont Royal, your blue skies and green lawn, the music of your LARPers and Tam-tams. I miss the Tam-Tams, the self-forming circle and slight haze of 420, the city, the earth, the blades of grass breathing with us as we beat, as a city, as one. I miss your cracking Old Montreal, your warm creperies and bus tours. I miss your dying newspapers and your bill 101. I miss your easy film rating system, the way bus drivers wave to one another. I miss your voice in the metro, the parade of scarves in October, Americans already in puffy coats, girls in UGGS in Westmount. I miss your jewish bakeries and italian pasta, your chinese noodles and greek wraps, your hidden Tibetan cuisine and Indian buffets, Your fresh fruits by Cote-Des-Neiges and buses upon buses at Vendome. I miss this ridiculous bagel feud (St-Viateur ftw), and this slightly less ridiculous language barrier. I miss your music festivals, Montreal. No one loves music the way you do. I miss your Quebecois accent, and your ridiculously small street signs. Your rude old ladies and creepy old men. The violinists on the metros and free hugs in the Old Port. I miss your habs riots and your policemen on horses, I miss your street construction and lights. I'm going to miss your Christmas lights, Montreal. That'll be when this hits hardest, won't it? Christmas. I miss your Christmas lights, Montreal. Rene Levesque and Penfield with large wreaths. I miss your Autumn already, Montreal. It isn't fair I may never live through the entirety of another Montreal autumn, another Halloween night. I love your leaves and gusts and the parks, at night. I miss your chilly raindrops. You know, I will try to collect some of your sunscent, your gorgeous bilingual humid night moisture bring it with me wherever I go whoever I become you will always be home.

USA : Food Riots, Tax Rebellions By 2012...Trend forecaster, renowned for being accurate in the past, says LIVELEAK The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012. Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting fut More..ure world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week. Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts. "We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas....we're going to see a fundamental shift take place....putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression". "America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for," said Celente, noting that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis. Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent. The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures. The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, "The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest," and that, "The middle classes could become a revolutionary class." In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America. "There will be a revolution in this country," he said. "It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen." "The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop." "It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more." "We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension."

Vive Montreal! It may not be Paris, but city is awash with Old World charm, warmth for Christmas By Mary Milz Special to The Courier-Journal Some say if you can't afford Paris, try Montreal, the most European city in North America. Not quite. Montreal is no Paris. And thanks to the strong Canadian dollar, it's not the bargain it once was, either. But it's still well worth the trip even on those nippy December days when temperatures hover in the 20s. With its strong French Catholic heritage, Montreal dresses in its Christmas finest and lights up for the holidays, encouraging visitors to join in the revelry. Montreal transported this Midwesterner worlds away without jumping time zones, without confusion over currency and without need of a pocket translator. It's just a two-hour fight from Chicago, Canadian coins pretty much mirror American, and while French is the primary language, everyone we encountered spoke English too. Montreal is Canada's second-largest city. More than 3.6 million people call the greater metropolitan area home. At first glance, Montreal stands out as a modern city with its gleaming skyscrapers, upscale shopping and internationally known restaurants. But bundle up and stroll its vibrant and varied neighborhoods and you find Montreal oozes Old World warmth and charm. Montreal provides the perfect three- to five-day getaway for travelers wanting big-city excitement without big-city hassles. Culturally diverse and rich in history, Montreal offers everything from top-notch museums and centuries-old churches to fabulous food and lively night life. Travelers intent on holiday shopping may feel giddy at the options. Saint Catherine Street, one of the longest streets in North America, is home to scores of trendy boutiques as well as the city's most prominent retailers, including Ogilvy. The landmark department store is famous for its bagpipers, who announce the noon hour each day; and its legendary Christmas windows, which come alive with animated toy animals. Shoppers wanting edgier, funkier gifts will enjoy browsing Saint Laurent Street. And if it's too frigid outdoors, shoppers can escape to the underground city. Twenty-two miles of subterranean walkways link shopping centers, boutiques, restaurants, cinemas, hotels and the subway. No need for a rental car. The Metro is fast, cheap and easy to navigate. Underground trains make stops every five to 10 minutes, taking passengers to 68 stations across the city. A single fair is $2.75; a three-day pass, $17, is also good for buses. Several police officers assured us it was safe at all hours. Montreal also enjoys a reputation for being well-kept. A recent survey by Mercer Human Resources Consulting rated it the 10th cleanest city in the world. Beware; this city takes its clean image seriously. As of last spring, anyone caught flinging trash on the ground faced a fine of up to $1,000! In addition to its cleanliness, Montreal prides itself on diversity, reflected in its assorted ethnic neighborhoods ranging from Chinatown to the Latin Quarter (also great areas for finding fun and unusual gifts). One afternoon, we wandered into the Mile-End neighborhood and stopped in the Fairmount Bagel Bakery where it's nothing but bagels and matzahs. It has been in business since 1919. Employees roll the bagels by hand, boil them and then bake them in wood-burning ovens. Scrumptious! No wonder they turn out more than 1,500 a day. We walked across the street to a small market selling imported cheeses, marinades, olive oil and specialty chocolates, striking up a conversation with owner Luigi DiVito. When we asked what he thought distinguished Montreal from other Canadian cities, such as Toronto, he said, "People are very open, very friendly, very welcoming. There's more life here. We like to live. The food and restaurants are amazing." Our stomachs agreed. Montreal is known for its fine cuisine, and with close to 6,000 restaurants, the choices are daunting. While French-style restaurants and bistros were once the mainstay, diners now find a hearty selection of Middle Eastern, North African, Asian and Latin-American eateries, to name a few. Our hotel's concierge proved especially helpful in narrowing the choices. While we found prices comparable with large metropolitan cities, many Montreal restaurants offer table d'hote or fixed-price meals. You can get a three- or four-course meal for slightly more than the price of an a la carte main course. After a week of experiencing Montreal and its popular attractions, we left enamored and singing a decidedly different tune: Even if you can afford Paris, try Montreal. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071028/FEATURES05/710280350