Paths To Knowledge (dot Science)

Yikes!

The Russians Probed Canadian Air Space while USA President Obama was visiting! (ok, within 24 hours of his visit).

“Moscow hit back at Defence Minister Peter MacKay on Friday, calling the minister’s comments about the flight of two Russian bombers a “farce,” the Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported Friday.

The rhetorical sparring comes after two long-range Russian bombers flew near Canadian airspace in the arctic less than 24 hours before President Barack Obama visited Ottawa on Feb. 19 – an occurrence which MacKay called a “strong coincidence.”

Two Canadian CF-18 fighters intercepted the Russian aircraft and MacKay warned Russia on Friday to “back off” from flying near the Canadian border.

The incident has ignited a fierce debate about territorial sovereignty as European nations, Canada and the U.S. squabble about claims in the arctic.
But Russia sent a clear response to MacKay’s warnings.

“The Canadian defense minister’s statements concerning the flights of our long-haul aircraft are totally unclear,” a Russian military source said Friday, adding that the flight was routine.”

Then there is stuff like this that raise this to a double yikes post!

Russian military planes flew undetected through the U.S. zone of the Arctic Ocean to Canada during recent military exercises, a senior Air Force commander said Saturday. – Jan 2008

By the way, did anyone catch that video clip of Obama almost slipping on the icy Ottawa wheelchair access sidewalk just after he exited the market he visited? He instantly corrected his fall (yes fall) gracefully recovering. It got some play on Canadian TV here but only a couple of times… didn’t get the dvr set up in time! A link would be appreciated if you’ve seen one. Thanks.