07/31/13

Watcher’s Council Nominations – “Phoney Scandals” Edition

The Watcher’s Council

I’m sure the families of Brian Terry, Chris Stevens, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and over 300 Mexicans murdered because of Fast and Furious are happy to know that words – polite words anyway – fail me.

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

Council News:

This week, Ask Marion, Maggie’s Notebook and The Pirate’s Cove took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status for some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6 PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out Wednesday morning.

Simple, no?

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members on the oldest and most established blogging group in the ‘sphere… and grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety that comes with it. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have this week…

Council Submissions

Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that!

07/31/13

Living Under Tyranny: Solidification of the Obama Dictatorship, Part I

Gulag Bound
By: Sher Zieve

SWAT_team

The Obama dictatorship is virtually complete. Since he began the occupation of what was once our White House, the dictator-in-chief has been busy writing one Executive Order after another designed to replace US law…with ObamaLaw. Under normal and saner times, these EOs would mean little-to-nothing because the checks and balances of co-equal branches of government would render them null and void if they flew in the face of Constitutional law. But, today, insanity is reigning supreme.

Note: For those of you raised in the government public school systems over the last three decades, the US Congress (which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate) and SCOTUS (the Supreme Court of the United States of America) are co-equal (under the US Constitution) with and to the Executive branch and each of the three branches of the US federal government legally carries 1/3 each of the power to run said government.

However, co-equal branches of the US government–like the Bill of Rights for US citizens–are no longer applicable in the USA. They have been replaced by dictatorial rule of and from the US White House; specifically under the now almost complete tyrannical control of Barack Hussein Obama. Why? Because Congress refuses to act and/or follow through on stopping Obama and his demolition-of-America team from destroying the US Constitution, individual rights and SCOTUS is now openly ruling in both bizarre and unconstitutional ways. This abrogation of duty has resulted in the submission of the Legislative and Judicial branches of government to the Executive branch.

Question: Are members of Congress and SCOTUS (minus their female members) now required to bow down and pray five times a day in the direction of Washington D.C. to Obama? Does Obama provide the prayer mats?

What has occurred that has allowed this to happen is nothing less than treason and the “aiding and abetting of the enemies of the United States of America.”

Militarized Police Force illegally grabbing guns (all source materials and complete articles below)

  1. In April 2013, under the NY SAFE (Secure Ammunition & Firearms) Act, Governor Cuomo of New York issued orders revoking permits for legally owned guns and advised the owners that they must surrender those permits and “any and all weapons” over to the police. The persons receiving this mandate are those citizens who are taking anti-anxiety drugs. First, HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) laws were broken and the information received about individual prescribed drugs acted upon by NY was obtained illegally and second…the Right to Bear Arms contained in the Second Amendment was (following Obama’s example) thrown onto the street, stomped on and swept into the gutters of New York by another dictatorial Democrat executive.
  2. In Medford Oregon May 2013, military veteran Corey Thompson’s AR-15 was confiscated and he was arrested when wanted felon Jonathon Kinsella tried to force his way into Thompson’s home and Thompson fired a warning shot. The Blaze reports: “Thompson was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and reckless endangering. The veteran’s AR-15 was seized by police because they claim it was used in the commission of a crime.”
  3. Army Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham, who had previously been honored for his service by President George W. Bush, was arrested while on a 10-mile hike in Texas with his son in March 2013. He was arrested by police (who had apparently been following him) for “rudely displaying” his firearm. Huh? Is this a real law? The rifle was being carried, as the area of the hike contains wild boar, cougars and other potentially dangerous animals. His AR-15 was confiscated. By the way, AR-15 rifles are still legal in all US States.
  4. After the Boston Marathon Bombings, multiple reports of house to house forced entry by Boston police and SWAT teams emerged with pictures taken of multiple heavily armed militarized police on the doorsteps of private homes. In one video (below link), the initial knock on the private home door almost knocks it in.

IRS used as another arm of the Obama Gestapo

Only those who do not have access to communication of any type can possibly not know about what has happened to the IRS. Along with the highly-militarized local police forces, Obama and his syndicate have used the IRS as, yet, another arm of his growing Gestapo. If you are a TEA Party member, Patriot organization, Christian or Jewish group or a group committed to liberty and the preservation of the US Constitution, you have likely been targeted by the now–apparently–all Marxist all the time Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS–in what increasingly appears to be getting closer and closer to its orders coming directly from the Oval Office–has been summarily withholding tax exempt status from those groups that oppose Obama’s policies. These group members have also been asked highly-intrusive–and probably illegal–questions by the IRS. If they don’t answer them, the IRS has–also in writing–advised them that they can and/or will be held in contempt and subject to perjury charges. Many of the same groups have waited for years for approval and some are still waiting. However, groups that publicly agree with Obama or have group names indicating they’re on the Left politically have sailed right through and received their tax exempt status.

The IRS has actually admitted that it affected the above actions and is still continuing the illegal activities today! In fact, recently the IRS began targeting conservative groups for “audits” and “special attention” which already have tax exempt status. Additionally, the IRS has also finally been caught having leaked information on former Republican (and TEA Party) Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s tax records to the Delaware Democrat Party!

These are way beyond dirty-tricks and it should be abundantly clear to any and all with a bit more than a brain stem that Obama has set up and is in the process of using his personal hammer and sickle groups to implement his increasingly violent police state activity. The Iron Curtain encircling the USA is almost fully down. But, even these actions are only the tip of the iceberg.

Part II coming soon.

“When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips‘.”
– Jeremiah 7: 27-28

Gun Confiscation Has Reportedly Begun in New York State:
at theblaze.com

Military Veteran’s AR-15 Confiscated by Police:
at theblaze.com

Decorated Vet Arrested After ‘Rudely Displaying’ His Rifle:
at theblaze.com

Boston Martial Law: ‘They were confiscating guns from residents’:
at 21stcenturywire.com

New targeting allegations leveled against IRS, this time by [existing] tax-exempt groups:
at foxnews.com

IRS Leaked Christine O’Donnell’s Info the Day She Announced Her Senate Candidacy:
at pjmedia.com

VIDEO: Boston Bombers Police State in America – Police Officers Illegally Search Homes, Door to Door:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MezLoczjfY
 

07/31/13

Republican Leaders Approve America as a One-Party State

Gulag Bound

Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D.
Freedom Outpost

boehner

Achieving dialectic synthesis can be an emotional occasion for controlled opposition leadership.

At a June 25, 2013 White House meeting, originally announced as a foreign policy discussion, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) promised President Barack Obama that Republicans would offer only token resistance to all future legislation proposed by the Democrats. In return, Obama would permit the Republicans to remain a minority party in Congress, run candidates in certain Democrat-approved Congressional races and allow them to continue to raise money for losing Republican candidates through Karl Rove’s political action committees.

In a statement released by the White House shortly after conclusion of the meeting, Obama was quoted as saying: “In order for the government to continue on its present course, we need to maintain the appearance of democracy. Republican collaboration is essential to that effort.”

Boehner called the June 25th meeting “candid” and “productive.”

According to notes taken at the meeting by a Republican operative, the GOP could continue to hold hearings on phony scandals such as Pigford, ACORN, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS and the NSA on the condition that no conclusions are reached, no one is held accountable and no news is broadcast. The same source added that the major news networks have also agreed to those terms.

As part of the agreement, the Republican House leadership would continue its effort to purge Tea Party proponents and libertarians from party membership.

In an apparent demonstration of good faith toward their new Democrat partners, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) slammed fellow Republicans, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Steve King (R-IA), and claimed that libertarians and Tea Party extremists would destroy the GOP.

satire er, satyr

Satire, pardon, satyr
(or another fauning RINO, we’re not sure)

The centerpiece of the new one-party coalition remains comprehensive immigration reform, which the Republicans are now committed to endorse. In return for their capitulation, some Republican candidates will be given a few of the new 11 million presently undocumented Democratic voters as electoral “trickle down.”

The future distribution of votes among candidates made by Democrat poll workers is expected to match the July 2013 poll released Pew Research Center showing that Latino illegal immigrants, given the opportunity to vote, would vote Democratic at an eight-to-one margin.

Praising illegal immigrants, future former Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio said: “We’re not talking about plagues of locusts…”.

Although, as Business Insider noted in their recent article title, “Marco Rubio Has Alienated Just About Everyone in the Immigration Debate” – even the locusts.

On the bright side, all the agreed-upon cowering and surrender to Democrats has the Republicans well-positioned to maintain its grip as the number two party in Washington, D.C.

Said Speaker Boehner: “If you can’t be part of the solution, then there’s good money to be made prolonging the problem.”

Also from Lawrence Sellin, see “Paul Ryan’s Immigration Smoke and Mirrors.

07/31/13

DSA Marxists Fighting for Illegal Immigration Amnesty and Open Borders

By: Trevor Loudon
New Zeal

America’s largest Marxist organization Democratic Socialists of America has come out four square for immigration amnesty and open borders.

medinaaaaaa

Statement by the Democratic Socialists of America National Political Committee, July 17, 2013:

Democratic Socialists of America has long fought for a swift path to citizenship for all undocumented workers and their dependents. As socialists, it is our conviction that all those who contribute labor to a society should have the full rights of citizenship.

As of today, the Republican majority in the House remains the major obstacle to moving towards this goal. Speaker John Boehner refuses to bring comprehensive immigration reform to the House floor unless a majority of the Republican caucus favors doing so. By frustrating the majority will of the entire chamber, Boehner threatens to preclude any immigration reform beyond further wasteful and deadly militarization of our border with Mexico.

DSA will join the efforts of the immigrant rights and labor movement to pressure House Republicans to bring a bill to the floor that includes a clear path to citizenship for all undocumented people. At the same time, we will work with our allies to change those parts of the Senate bill that restrict the labor rights of those on the path to citizenship, exclude large numbers of the undocumented from said path and accelerate the violent and wasteful militarization of the border.

DSA;s strategy is twofold, get the Bill passed at all costs, then work now and in the future to eliminate any clauses that enhance border security or slow down illegals path to full citizenship and voting rights. The socialists definitely want to have their cake and eat it too.

Most of organized labor and the immigrant rights and Latino advocacy community critically support the Senate-passed S 744 — the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 — because it provides a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers. Thus, they are pushing for the House to take up the Senate bill. While DSA understands this decision, we also will work with the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) and grassroots groups who raise fundamental questions about the Senate bill itself because it promises to further militarize the border and increase the harassment of borderlands communities.

The Senate bill provides an arduous 13-year path to citizenship for the large majority — but not all — of the approximately 11 million undocumented workers. It would grant legal status to millions of immigrants and their dependents, and allow them to work and travel without fear of deportation. But as those embarking on the lengthy road to citizenship cannot go more than 60 days without employment, the Senate bill would severely hamper immigrants from defending their rights in the workplace. In addition, the minimum of $3,750 in fees during the path to citizenship will put full citizenship out of the reach of many.

DSA will join the immigrant rights community in working to eliminate the unjust and punitive provisions from any final bill and will join protest and lobbying efforts to get before both the House and Senate a final comprehensive immigration bill that includes provisions for immediate legal status for all undocumented peoples and an expeditious, affordable path to citizenship.

The most heinous parts of the Senate bill involve a further militarization of the border, the price Republican senators exacted for endorsing the bill… The bill calls for doubling the number of Border Patrol agents to almost 40,000 over the next ten years, It also expands the area within the United States in which Border Security can patrol, and will thus ramp up the unjust harassment of borderland communities. These programs are a financial boondoggle for military contractors and for the private prison industry. Nor will the actions curtail undocumented immigration.

In contrast, the Senate bill continues the requirement that aspiring citizens must demonstrate English proficiency, but provides only $100 million in additional funding. This doesn’t begin to meet the needs. An estimated 5.8 million legal permanent residents, and 6.4 million undocumented immigrants have limited English proficiency. It would take between $11.5 and $23 billion total to equip immigrants with the language skills they need. Instead of militarizing the border, the Congress should adequately fund opportunities for immigrants to learn English.

DSA says it is doing this for “democracy”:

DSA views the struggle for just immigration reform as an integral part of the ongoing struggle for workers’ rights and for democracy.

The truthful reason was made very plain by SEIU Executive VP, Eliseo Medina, in a speech to the “progressive” faithful at the America’s Future Now! conference in Washington, D.C. on June 2, 2009. Medina is a Democratic Socialists of America honorary chair and the country’s most influential amnesty activist.

Addressing attendees on the necessity of comprehensive immigration reform and speaking of Latino voters, Medina said: “when they voted in November, they voted overwhelmingly for progressive candidates. Barack Obama got two out of every three voters that showed up.”

So I think there’s two things that matter for the progressive community.

Number one, if we are to expand this electorate to win, the progressive community needs to solidly be on the side of immigrants, that we’ll expand and solidify the progressive coalition for the future…”

When you are in the middle of a fight for your life you will remember who was there with you. And immigrants count on progressives to be able to do that.

Number two.

“We reform the immigration laws, it puts 12 million people on the path to citizenship and eventually voters”. Can you imagine if we have, even the same ratio, two out of three?

If we have eight million new voters who care about …… and will be voting. We will be creating a governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle…

Here’s the video of Medina’s speech.

“Governing coalition for the long term?” That means effectively a Democratic One-Party state – forever.

That is the real agenda of the left. Immigration “reform” – amnesty, citizenship and voting rights is a means to that sinister end.

07/30/13

Benador: Americans, The Time Has Come To March For Liberty…!!!

By: Eliana Benador
Right Side News

“Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.” Thomas Jefferson

“In commenting on the resistance he experienced to his own unorthodox views on health, Yale surgeon Dr. Bernie S. Siegel, author of the best-selling book “Love, Medicine, and Miracles,” asserts that it is because people are addicted to their beliefs. Siegel says this is why when you try to change someone’s belief they act like an addict.

There seems to be a good deal of truth to Siegel’s observation, which perhaps is why so many of civilization’s greatest insights, and advances have at first been greeted with such passionate denial. We are addicted to our beliefs and we *do* act like addicts when someone tries to wrest from us the powerful opium of our dogmas.” Michael Talbot

”If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Pirke Avot / Ethics of the Fathers 1:14

“United we stand; divided we fall”

I dedicate this article to my son and to future generations of innocent Americans whose voice cannot be heard but who will inherit the decision this generation of Americans will make. Eliana Benador

Abroad, one can feel the influence America has had and still has in the world. Whether it is the wide array of American hotel chains or Starbucks, Gap, including the decadent rap music; and one can be surprised by the incredible attention a Swiss newspaper gives, of all people, to someone like Kim Kardashian and her choice of her daughter’s name. That is how influential America is, for better or for worse, in the everyday life of billions and billions around the planet.

Meanwhile, in mainland, Americans who have throughout the years gotten used to live a life of comfort, slowly became more inclined to worry about the outer world by sending their sons and daughters in military uniform, resigned to give their lives for causes in faraway countries, whose name sometimes American-English speakers cannot even pronounce them.

In other words, Americans have fought tyrannies, but never lived them. Thus, under such circumstances, they overlook the embryos that are evolving in their midst and are prone to ignore the signs of tyranny that are about to push their doors down.

After a first term, a majority of the American people renewed Mr. Obama’s lease to the White House, but the love affair between the American democrats and their president did not fair well for the conservative minority who were not willing to elect him or his anti-American agenda, but were factually unable to stop the democratic tsunami.

DESTROYING THE AMERICAN FAMILY

For over a century now, liberals have understood that they must destroy the family nucleus if they want not only to takeover a country, but to control it completely and turn it into a socialist entity at least, or communist at worst.

For that, they knew that the first goal was to promote feminism, in the name of so-called equal rights for women. Abortion followed, as did the legalization of homosexual marriage, and the subsequent total overhaul of sexual values. As follow-up, in Chicago they have programmed a course to teach kindergartners “one can marry anyone,” thus proving how unnatural their policies and positions are.

BLACK & WHITE

Obama ran as the “black” candidate thus setting the tone of his behavior throughout his terms. He was quick to run to Florida when a white American Latino killed a black man in self-defense. “Trayvon could have been my son,” was his heavy loaded message. “Trayvon could have been me,” he said, when he failed to manipulate the jurors whose verdict innocent the accused.

As a matter of fact, “A division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was deployed to Sanford, Florida in 2012 to provide assistance for anti-George Zimmerman protests, including a rally headlined by activist Al Sharpton, according to newly released documents.”

Zimmermann’s parents went in hiding due to threats they received, and when Zimmermann helped take some people out of their accident car, that family instead of being thankful to him, they cancelled a TV appearance out of fear.

Recently, Larry Elder went off on Piers Morgan during an explosive race debate: “You’re making black people feel as if they are under siege… It’s an outrage!” He went on to say: “…that there were 7,000 murders last year of black people, almost all of which were committed by blacks. “

There are real problems within the black community in America. If Barack Obama really cared about them, he could have rather focused on fixing a real problem, such as the murders on black people, of which 93% are perpetrated by blacks.

What Obama wants to promote and advance, is his agenda, he is obviously pushing for unrest to indirectly maybe cause a beginning of a civil war so he and his people can have the excuse they need to impose martial law and takeover America.

OBAMA’s MUSLIM AGENDA

From the beginning of his presidency, Obama marked the tone instructing Charles Bolden, the head of NASA, to do Muslim Outreach in order to make Muslims “feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering…” And, Bolden gives parallel cases, so to say, of countries who have made major intellectual and scientific contributions, such as Russia and Japan… As such, the president relegated the advancement of American space science to favor his friends, but that was only the first of his first ‘open house’ to welcome his Muslim partners.

Not enough has been said in the media about this:

“The trial of U.S. Army major Nidal Hassan finally began on July 9th, four years after he carried out an Islamic terror attack that he is actually continuing. That is largely because he is representing himself at his trial, apparently so he can further publicize his belief that he was acting to defend Islam. In response, the U.S. government continues to insist that the Hasan attack had nothing to do with religion but was simply a case of workplace violence. Many of the 32 surviving victims of the 2009 attack in Ft. Hood are complaining, without success, that they are receiving less attention (and money) for their injuries because they did not get a Purple Heart medal because of the incident. The Purple Heart medal is the U.S. military award for combat wounds and it entitles soldiers to higher compensation and more prompt medical attention. The decision not to award Purple Hearts to the Ft. Hood victims is at the center of a controversy between politicians who are trying to play down the presence of Islamic radicalism in the United States and military leaders who want recognition for American troops killed or wounded by Islamic terrorism. While victims of domestic terrorism can receive the Purple Heart, the U.S. government has several times refused to categorize the November 5, 2009 attack in Ft. Hood as a terrorist action. It is expected that this will become even more difficult to defend as the Hasan trial proceeds.”

The Nidal Malik Hassan case is the most infamous among Islam and Muslim-related abuses from the Obama Administration, committed so far, with total impunity, but it is far from being the last one.

It was during president Hosni Mubarak’s time that Obama gave his 2009 Cairo speech and the result was dramatic: Muslim Brotherhood got the green light and in time, removed the dictator who nevertheless had been an American ally for years. Such move initiated a row of dark moves by the Brothers throughout the Muslim Middle East, where the world benevolently has watched the rise of terrorists keen to push their sharia agenda.

There is a litany of examples of the infiltration of Muslim Brotherhood members within the administration, facilitated by Barack Obama, who has legitimized their presence. Muslim Brotherhood is the Egyptian organization for the advancement of Islam and its Jihad for Muslim world domination happens via its tool of choice: terrorism in its various nasty shapes and forms.

We would be remiss if we did not mention the other Muslim style of invasion, one that is even more aggressive than violence. Liberal governments worldwide are intent in facilitating Muslim immigration, which will result in a demographic explosion in America, Europe and the West in general, given that their birth rate is among the highest on the planet.

With so many children per family, Muslims are now receiving government aid of all sorts, in America, but also in Europe, Australia and other countries. It is not surprising that in Michigan, for instance, the city of Detroit has become the first case of a city bankruptcy in 21st century America.

Some consider Michigan the “Islamic capital of the United States,” due to the heavy Muslim presence throughout its cities. The situation in Detroit is dramatic. The city is basically been taken over by Muslims who may well have driven the city to the place where it is now. Dearborn, another predominantly Muslim city, is enclaved in Detroit on three borders. Sharia is being imposed there.

All this is happening silently, while Americans are been asked to abort their children and have no jobs.

To those who will want to accuse me of Islamophobe, I say:

I have been in your countries and know for a fact that you do not even accept a synagogue or a church. So, do not be surprised that we cannot and will not accept that you take over our civilization, our country and our lives.

Continue reading

07/30/13

Fort McMurray Evicts Oil Sands Companies that Helped it Grow

By: James Stafford of Oilprice.com

The Canadian town of Fort McMurray, population 76,000, is the heart of Alberta’s oil sands largesse–but the town is bursting at its seams with nowhere to expand because the land surrounding it is owned by oil companies.

The government’s answer to this is to cancel all the leases on 22,000 hectares of land surrounding Fort McMurray—effective immediately.

In an agreement announced on 26 July, the government promised lease-holders fair reimbursement, with the municipality purchasing the land from the province over the next five to 15 years.

This acreage is more than twice the size of Fort McMurray today, and the idea is to make the town two-thirds the size of Calgary.

For Fort McMurray—whose population is expected to double by 2030 thanks to the very oil sands industry is must now evict—it is a necessity. The town needs more housing and infrastructure, but has nowhere to put it.

“This lack of land has tied our hands when it comes to planning future development, but it’s also led to all sorts of challenges from sparse housing options, limited commercial retail entities and a non-existent space for social profit groups: churches, community halls, store fronts, just to name a few,” Mayor Melissa Blake told reporters on 26 July, when the decision was announced. “Today that all changes.”

Oil sands companies have mixed feelings about the deal. Though the purchase of their leases will be based on fair market prices, some are not convinced they’ll be compensated for all the money they’ve spent developing oil sands here—just to lose their leases.

The most affected will be Value Creation Inc., which holds leases on the largest swathe of territory slated for Fort McMurray’s urban development. According to the Edmonton Journal, the company had planned to develop oil sands reserves here and then return the land to the Fort McMurray authorities—along with newly laid roads—in 10 years. But Fort McMurray can’t wait.

Value Creation says the decision, at least, removes any uncertainty about what is going to happen with these leases. Company advisor Rick Orman noting that the government had been stringing it along for four years while the company continued to spend money on development. Orman also questioned the need to expand Fort McMurray to such an extent, calling it ” excessive“.

Alberta Oilsands Inc. (AOS), however, is less wary. While it’s invested $50 million developing its Clearwater assets here since 2007, it’s getting all its money back, plus interest, and some potentially sweet replacement property thrown into the deal.

AOS CEO Binh Vu told Oilprice.com: “While we are disappointed at not being able to move to production at Clearwater, with the malaise in the junior markets AOS is trading today at a market capitalization of only half of what the government remuneration will be based on our expenses at Clearwater and interest–so it will be a real boon for current shareholders and investors.”

Do companies having their leases cancelled have anything to worry about and should their shareholders be concerned? We don’t think so – we copied the below from the Mines and Mineral Act which clearly states how companies will be compensated:

The Mineral Rights Compensation Regulation (Alberta Regulation 317/2003) establishes the compensation payable by the Crown for cancelled agreements. Compensation includes at least the following:

1. Cost of acquiring the lease including annual license fees and application fees;
2. Wasted exploration and development expenditures;
3. Reclamation costs;
4. Interest of approximately 5 per cent (calculated as Alberta Treasury Branch prime plus 1 per cent).

Source: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Fort-McMurray-Evicts-Oil-Sands-Companies-that-Helped-it-Grow.html

By: James Stafford of Oilprice.com