At Long Last....

Laura Secord, the chocolate company named for the War of 1812 heroine, is back in Canadian hands after being purchased by Aliments NutriArt Inc., an affiliate of Quebec-based Biscuits Leclerc Ltee. It's good to have her back.

A rare letter-to-the-editor concerning the history of the Korean Peninsula.

From the letter:

George Jonas writes: "Militarily, the West has been punching below its weight for two generations. Korea was a standoff ...." While that might appear to be the case, it is not the truth. The United Nations resolution passed in 1950 called for a ceasefire and a withdrawal and requested member states to assist the UN in this action.

In other words, the UN's mandate was to remove the belligerent North Korea from its neighbour, South Korea. It was not to cross the border and smash the communist government. That mandate was achieved, albeit at considerable cost in human lives and property damage.

I would like to respond. By 1953, the UN forces were at a stalemate with the North Korean and Chinese forces. An agreement to cease armed hostilities did not mean the end of the war, only large scale fighting. As the letter states, it did not stop the considerable cost of human life and property on both sides of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). North Korea is STILL at war with South Korea, which it has propagandised as a spoil of war between the Americans and the Japanese.

Mr. Bush makes a great t-shirt as he does billboard. Wow.


In case we were mistaken about Islamofascism's antagonism and it complete lack of latency, here it is. They attacked the Muppets for crying out loud! These people are monsters!

In case we forgot (at least the popular press did), Professor Phil Jones admits to having had a poor handle on the data which decided climate AND public policy for the entire globe. Indeed, the Medieval warming period may have been warmer than originally thought.

Korean athlete Mo Tae-Bum took the gold medal in men's speed-skating (he took a silver in another event) on his birthday. How do you top a birthday present like that? Perhaps with a magical unicorn. Maybe.

Japan took the other two medals. Good for them.

Saint Valentine's Day Mellow

Though often the feast of Saint (s) Valentine are overlooked in lieu of candy and chocolate (not that there is anything wrong with chocolate), there are some rather interesting tropes the day inspires.

Here is a brief overview of some of history's great love letters.

Nothing beats this one, though.

Worried that your gesture of flowers won't ever match the Taj Mahal? Well- it won't.

A touching story about a boy and his duck.

Don't know how to say "I love you"? Say it with cats.

Not a lot of people know that Saints Cyril and Methodius- from whom the Cyrillic alphabet derives- also share a feast day with Saint Valentine. Learn how to say "St. Valentine's Day" in Russian.

Drinking the Kool-Aid

There are things that are so odious that you choke on a vile mixture of your own rage and disbelief as you read about them.

Cases in point:

While visiting Cuba, celebrities (or "useful idiots" as they are know in some circles) sympathetic to Fidel Castro's horrid dynasty were bugged while on holidays. Not even morons like Oliver Stone and Naomi Campbell were immune from Castro's prying tendencies.

I found this interesting:

Turns out, however, that at least one visiting dignitary foiled Castro’s intelligence. On his visit to Cuba in 1998, Pope John Paul’s assistants discovered and removed several bugging devices from his Holiness’ hotel room. Perhaps Castro had a grudge against the Papacy?

Most don’t recall, but on January 3rd, 1962, Pope John XXIII ex-communicated Fidel Castro from the Catholic Church.

A man of the cloth (THE Cloth) whose love for the poor in possessions and spirit was smarter than any Hollywood waste of space.

Security guards in Seattle watch as a fifteen year old girl is brutally beaten by teen-aged thugs.

My take: find the parents and have them, on live TV, explain why they are poor parents. Any attempt to blame society or lack of government services should be met with a joy buzzer shock. It's not enough to hurt them but it is really annoying. Even the most bovine individual would get it after a while.

Find the assailants, put them in thermal jumpsuits and send them the Baffin Island. Give them some chain-gang chore to do until they are thirty years old.

Sue the HELL out of the rent-a-cop company that would have big men stand idly by and watch a girl being assaulted.

Do one or all three of the preceding suggestions to any special-interest group that robs parents, teachers and law enforcement authorities from competently and efficiently performing their tasks.

According to this individual, North Korea really is a socialist paradise.

Here is an example of his horrendous willful ignorance:

But during the famine the members of the nomenklatura did receive bigger food rations compared to common people…

No, Kim Jong-il himself ate a bowl of rice like any other North Korean.

But he’s living in a palace …

Another lie. Our leader has some secret residences in different parts of the country for the simple reason that he constantly travels to stay with the people. On the contrary you could not see his pictures day after day from different locations.

Are all these pictures real?

All are real. Today he visits a pigs’ farm, tomorrow a military outpost, the next day a cooperative and every morning news reports keep the public informed about his travels and his meetings with common people at their homes.

What kind of books is it possible to read in North Korea? Is it true that the Grand People’s Study House of Pyongyang hosts Western texts, including novels by Orwell or even French classics? Who can frequent it?

I don’t know if there is Orwell, and it seems a mockery to me. But there are many Western books, usually classics. There are no problems provided that the texts don’t spread pornography or capitalist propaganda. All citizens can attend the Grand People’s Study House.

Trying to claim that North Korea is a free state with well-fed people and is led by a competent and caring leader is like trying to convince me that tea leaves can predict the rise and fall of the free market.

Iran is a nuclear state.

Iran marked the 31st anniversary of its revolution with massive pro-government rallies and a declaration the Islamic republic was now a "nuclear state."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the claim before a huge Tehran crowd as he bragged Iran's atomic scientists had this week enriched uranium to levels that put the country within reach of producing weapons-grade fuel.

Why? How was this allowed to occur? Why was a madman allowed to enrich uranium which- let's be honest- is solely for the purpose of creating a weapon of mass destruction? Did everyone forget Zahra Kazemi and Neda Agha-Soltan? We have opened up the way for Iran to be a major player and power in the Middle East. This isn't progress, not when a mad theocratic state possesses a weapon and the will to use it against a state it alleges is the source of evil.

One More Thing...

I didn't hear anyone complain when Charlie warned Desmond about the freighter.

Now who shouldn't write pointers on her hand?

A Hands-On Birthday Post

Hands on ! Get it?

Never mind.

On the week-end, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin delivered a knock-out speech with only six words scrawled on her her hand to prompt her.

It was seen as "gauche" by the same wags who excuse a lame-duck's use of a teleprompter even when speaking at a grade school. As one capable of witty retort, she wrote "Hi, Mom!" on her left hand the next day.

The wags didn't get it, though they did try to mimic it. But not being clever enough for satire or imitation as flattery, it kind of fell flat.



I only hope my imitation doesn't merit the same ignominious fate.



Also:




And if someone doesn't like my tribute, well...

The Japanese Martyrs

(bas-relief sculpture of the twenty-six martyrs on the church of the same name- Nagasaki, Japan)

Today is the feast day of Saint Paul Miki and twenty-five others whose profession of love for God was reason for their execution.

From Archbishop Terrence Prendergast's blog (emphasis mine):

"The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain." - Saint Paul Miki

The bolded line strikes me more than anything. Only through God can we be happy. If Saint Paul Miki can see that, why can anyone else?




(a bas-relief sculpture of hidden Christians- Kirishtan- outside of the old Oura church, Nagasaki, Japan)

Furthermore....

Go to hell, Omar Khadr. The Supreme Court may have ruled that the rights of this terrorist could have been violated but I see no reason why the son of a free-loading terrorist family should be granted millions of dollars.

When he returns the lives he took and the hands he cut off, then we'll give him a danish. I'm quite willing to compromise.

India, tired of the UN sponsored junk science pundits, has set up its own climate change body. Discuss.

The last time I checked, neither Romania nor the US needed Russian approval for a missile defence shield, scaled down though it may be.

Sarah Palin is coming to Calgary. Wheeeeeeeee! (sorry) Enjoy yourself, Mrs. Palin. Calgary is a hell of a town.

An example of common sense:

The White House recently announced its pricey Childhood Obesity Initiative to tell us what we should feed our kids. Helpful I’m sure – but most Americans would rather see government focus on other important areas right now. We know what our kids should eat: more healthy food, less junk food. There – we just saved Washington a ton of money by announcing that finding on personal responsibility.

Is this too much for the current American regime?

Let it never be said that racism is strictly a one-race/one-culture sin. It is pandemic. Just ask the Mohawks on the Kahnawake reserve. What manner of ill will would this travesty justify? Oh. Nothing justifies bigotry. My mistake.

Theirs, as well, apparently.

Do enjoy the week-end.

Why Ezra Levant Is Awesome (Part Three)

Mr. Levant discusses Michael Ignatieff's dropping the political football on his ideas for maternal health.

Sidebar: the American pretender- I mean- Michael Ignatieff is exhibiting the same socio-political ignorance and arrogance he has since coming to Canada (I won't use the word "returning" because I never believed he cared about Canada until he saw an opportunity to staff himself in the highest position in the land). Never mind the complete arrogance of asserting one's eugenicist beliefs on a Third World country where barely literate women have no chance for economic or academic advancement before or after the devastating earthquake of a few weeks ago but the stupidity one believes in thinking that abortion and contraception are the cure-all for crippling poverty and other social ills is just baffling.

For one's edification: here and here.

Why Ezra Levant Is Awesome (Part Two)

(second of a multi-part series)

Mr. Levant's scathing attack on the hypocritical Danny Williams.

Is Mr. Williams willing to fly other Canadians over? After all, he is leaving the land of socialist bliss for the terrible US. Yes, he is able to get better and more prompt treatment there but where is the unified front- the one that says our health care system is better than the American one and that Canadians must love it (or else)?

Why Ezra Levant Is Awesome (Part One)

If only he would wear a cape.