Re: Gander

It must be thankful to your time in the military that you know Gander isn't just down the road from Halifax, because plenty of your Ontarian bretheren wouldn't know the difference either. Anyway, I'm sure he chose Halifax over Gander because 1) there is more to the visit than just diverted aircraft, 2) who would want to go to Gander? 3) He probably wants to get an up-close look at just how small our major Eastern Naval base is 4) oil and gas / commerce in general 5) There is a US consulate in Halifax 6) The White House's Newfanese interpreter is on vacation.

There are plenty of peacenicks... from leftover 60s hippies, now in their 60s themselves, to drunken university students looking for something exciting to do. Here is what I am hoping for... that it IS peaceful protest. It's not a question of whether there will be protesting or not... there will be. I might take a stroll by to see how thing are going, but not if there is pepper spray flying.

PS: I don't intend to take anything away from the people of Gander for their efforts to support the grounded planes during 9/11, obviously they worked very hard and deserve more credit for their efforts. But just to revisit, don't throw around words like "vast majority" when Gander had 53 planes (10,000 passengers) while Halifax had 44 planes (7,000 passengers)... not to mention other airports who took scattered amounts of planes. Gander took the most, not the "vast majority".