Sunday Post

What a great way to begin the season of Advent than by commenting on this:

Happy (almost) Holidays! 

I don't generally use Merry Christmas because I don't celebrate it and I don't want to assume that everyone who reads this blog does either. I teach my kids to say Happy Holidays, but they always ask me why everyone says Merry Christmas to them. They are not of an age where they understand that us non-Christmas celebrants are the minority. 

I'm not anti-Christmas, I'm pro-inclusion. This makes me an enemy of the American Family Association who are policing retailers to make sure that they are putting the "Christ back into Christmas". They are encouraging shoppers to boycott stores who do not mention Christmas in their advertising. 

How are you being "pro-inclusion" by offering a generic greeting? Happy Holidays. What holidays?  Martin Luther King Day is a holiday. Gwangbokjol is a holiday. Neither of these holidays are in December, however. Christmas is. Whether one likes it or not, people observe Christmas. They should focus on the more spiritual aspects of it, yes, but that is another topic for another time. What remains is that the obviously generic "Happy Holidays" refers not to Christmas but the discomfort some feel in acknowledging it. We are not doing others a favour by ignoring a popular holiday. We are lying to ourselves, trying to salve our "white guilt" or "political correctness" or whatever neurotic hang-up we have by pretending that we care that cultural minorities may be offended. Did we bother asking or are we assuming? I say the latter. Even if someone was offended, so? Are we to come to a crashing halt for everyone who may a problem with something? Surely decorating a tree and making sugar cookies cannot be so objectionable that we ban them or hide their existence? These attempts to shield the public at large come off as absurd. Call it a "winter holiday" or "holiday tree" all you want but everybody knows you are really talking about Christmas.



Just say "Merry Christmas". It won't be the end of the world.




Why would anyone want to blow up people watching a Christmas tree lighting?



(Sidebar: there is no such thing as a "holiday tree". Please see above.)


Immigrants are failing the tougher immigration test:

Failure rates for immigrants writing citizenship tests have soared since the spring, when tougher questions and revamped rules made it harder for newcomers to become Canadian.

The new test, introduced March 15, was based on a bulked-up citizenship guide released a year ago to give immigrants a richer picture of Canada's history, culture, law and politics.

The 63-page guide, Discover Canada, replaced a slimmer volume dating from 1995 that had fewer facts to memorize. The failure rate for the old citizenship test, with questions drawn from the smaller guide, ranged between four and eight per cent.

Failure rates for the new test, however, rocketed to about 30 per cent when it was first introduced — prompting officials to revise the rules to avoid clogging the system with thousands of would-be Canadians who, because they had flunked, often had to plead their cases before busy citizenship judges.

A reworked test introduced Oct. 14 is helping to cut the national failure rate to about 20 per cent, still far higher than historic levels and making the exam-hall experience much more nerve-wracking for newcomers....

This is the highest number of fails I have seen in my time here with CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) doing the test," said a harried official at a Mississauga, Ont., office on March 19 this year, where 15 of 43 people had failed that day.

The old and new tests both have 20 multiple-choice questions and a 30-minute time limit. Only those citizenship wannabes aged 18 to 54 years are required to write the test, which is available in French and English.

But the pass mark for the test introduced March 15 was set at 75 per cent, meaning at least 15 of the 20 answers had to be correct. That compares with just 60 per cent, or 12 right answers, for the old exam.

The impact of the tough new standards was dramatic: shocked officials at testing centres across the country reported massive failure rates in the first sittings.

"I couldn't believe it, it's the highest fail rate I have ever seen here," one Toronto-area official reported by email to headquarters.

An internal survey of 35 testing centres across Canada, carried out between April 19 and June 24, showed an average of one in four people were flunking. At some centres — such as the busy Etobicoke office in Toronto — it was one in three.

And while many people under the previous regime finished the test within 15 minutes, the new exam had most people sweating for the full half hour.

People who failed the old test were automatically referred to a citizenship judge. In 2008-2009, for example, 9,500 applicants who blew the test had to spend up to an hour with a judge to argue they were still worthy of citizenship.

Worried that the tougher tests could swamp the system, officials decided that applicants who flunked would be allowed to rewrite. And in the revamped test introduced Oct. 14, the department further eased the rules by eliminating a long-standing policy requiring correct answers to a few mandatory questions.

"We anticipate that the pass rate will settle in the 80 per cent to 85 per cent range, which would indicate that the test is not too easy or too difficult," said department spokeswoman Karen Shadd.

She added that the test questions are being shuffled more often to help end what the department believes was rampant cheating under the old system.

"In the past, with the old test, some people would buy the answers from unofficial sources," Shadd said in an email.

"After paying for the answers, they would memorize them in order to pass the test. This accounted, in part, for a much higher pass rate."

Shadd also said the option of rewriting the test is only a temporary measure implemented to deal with the transition to the new exam.

Putting aside words like "fails" and "wannabes" (I'm sure they meant "failures" and "applicants" but were not smart enough to use those words), I would like to express my disappointment in a number of things. There are any number of native-born Canadians who would do poorly on this test. Are these the same people who are helping immigrants prepare for this test? I would like to know. If a twenty question multiple choice test takes more than thirty minutes, there is something wrong. Questions like "What colours are on the Canadian flag?" are so simple that even a Canadian public school student can answer. If you have to bribe someone for the answers, you shouldn't be allowed in the country. Cheating on a test like that is just pure idiocy.




It's time to put on the Big Boy pants:

The United States and South Korea began joint military exercises in waters west of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in the face of opposition by regional giant China and threats of "consequences" from North Korea.


The exercises, which Washington says are intended as a sign of deterrence to North Korea, come less than a week after the North shelled a South Korean island near their disputed maritime boundary in the worst assault since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

The nuclear-powered carrier USS George Washington, which carries 75 warplanes and has a crew of over 6,000, has joined the exercises and will be accompanied by at least four other U.S. warships, an official from U.S. Forces Korea (USKF) told Reuters.

South Korea has deployed three destroyers, frigates and anti-submarine aircraft, Yonhap news agency reported, adding the exercises were being held far south of the disputed area where the artillery firing took place on Tuesday....

Serious (-ish) fire power. Now how does this translate into making North Korea and China shake in their boots?

South Korea's marine commander on Saturday vowed "thousand-fold" revenge for the North Korean attack that killed two servicemen and two civilians and prompted an unusual expression of regret from Pyongyang.

North Korea, not known for agonizing over policy decisions, said if there were civilian deaths, they were "very regrettable," but that South Korea should be blamed for using a human shield.

It also said the United States should be blamed for "orchestrating" the whole sequence of events to justify sending an aircraft carrier to join the maritime maneuvers.

There are people who like blaming America/Israel/Canada for problems real or imagined and now South Korea has joined the ranks of the perpetually maligned. South Korea should dignify that particular insult by blowing up Kim's private castles. The targets are big enough.

China has sent senior officials including its top diplomat, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, to Seoul for unscheduled meetings, both sides said. Dai met South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Dung-hwan on Saturday and will hold talks with President Lee on Sunday.

 

If the South Korean minister has any sense, he would refuse to even speak to the Chinese diplomats. Don't talk to them. China sent its own men out as Bren gun fodder during the Korean War. Now it owns North Korea. China talks and makes excuses for its errant vassal state. Enough. Cut those people off at the knees.

Related: the current Korean conflict could re-involve Canada.

If war breaks out on the Korean peninsula, Canada could become embroiled due to a half-century-old United Nations military alliance, federal documents reveal.

 

Canada's military obligations in the volatile region are outlined in a briefing note prepared for Defence Minister Peter MacKay shortly after North Korea detonated a nuclear device last year.

The note by the Defence Department's policy branch, which was obtained by The Canadian Press, says the UN alliance could be used to generate an international fighting force if war erupts.

It is not too likely we could be called in but if we are, we should finish the job this time.


Somebody is making idle threats to people who could actually beat them up. It's a good thing there are people calling them out on their stupidity:

@00:24:09        “So Ezra or Christie: If you’re listening—which I know you are, because you really just listen to what other people have to say all the time—yeah, don’t come to Waterloo. Straight up.”

@00:56:30        “Her unacademic and apologist language is still not appreciated here, and—I’m going to guess—is still not going to be spread here beyond her books.”

@01:02:08        “It has been made evident to the community that Blatchford and her like are not welcome…”

@01:02:16        We are proud to have stopped this racist apologist from further disseminating her lies, and we firmly pledge to be present at the rescheduling of [Christie Blatchford’s speaking] event in order to continue our campaign against Christie.” 

I find that people who swagger on Facebook and the like are usually the same cowards whose intelligence is marked only by how erect they stand. Mr. Shouman should showcase these alleged brain-trusts against Christie Blatchford and Ezra Levant in an arena cut off to the general public but with closed-circuit cameras and a huge outdoor screen. Let's see these "brave intellectuals" face off with people who are as smart as they think they are, especially when there no morons to interrupt by singing children's songs or chaining themselves to stationary objects (who would want to steal them, anyway? Talk about self-flattery!).


Ezra Levant unfurls his cape:


But back to Portugal. It’s not just a matter of debt and continued overspending. The economy is structurally weak — unproductive and strewn with thick red tape that kills jobs. Only a miracle could help, and Europe is running out of those. And even a spendthrift like U.S. President Barack Obama couldn’t get away with bailing out Portugal’s banks.

But there is someone ready to help: The People’s Republic of China.

China doesn’t have a debt. It has a surplus. It has $2.6 trillion in cash that’s burning a hole in its pocket. And it’s out shopping for power.

Earlier this month, China’s president visited Lisbon and met with the Portuguese prime minister, Jose Socrates. That in itself is surprising. Portugal is a small country — just 11 million people, and an economy of just $250 billion — smaller than Alberta’s.

But that’s the point. China’s hobby is collecting small, weak countries. You collect enough of them, and you’ve got yourself a little sphere of influence. You’re not just an economic and military superpower. You’re a geopolitical superpower, too.

“We are willing to take concrete measures to help Portugal cope with the global financial crisis,” said China’s President Hu Jintao. All of a sudden, Portugal has a new patron, and it’s not Germany or the U.S.

In addition to loans, China is talking about buying a stake in Portugal’s power utility and telephone company.

Giving Portugal $100 billion is unthinkable for America. After Greece and Ireland, it might not even be possible for the EU to do. But that’s just a rounding error for China.

What a nice trinket Portugal will make on China’s mantle, right next to its other beneficiaries, like Sudan.

Sudan is a rogue state; the butcher of Darfur. But it’s also a major source of oil for China, and a growing customer for Chinese weapons. Sudan gives China what it wants. And China returns the favour, by protecting Sudan from criticism at the UN with its permanent veto at the Security Council.





Seriously- how does China sleep at night?


And now for some cat earrings.

The First Sunday of Advent

The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
   a light has dawned....

For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  

(Isaiah 9:2-6)

Freakout Friday

The American Thanksgiving meal is over. Advent will soon begin. The crawl toward Christmas has begun.


Let us clap hands to heads with this:

 The Second World War Katyn massacre was committed on the direct order of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Russia's lower house of parliament said Friday — a statement hailed by Polish officials.


The 1940 massacre of around 20,000 Polish officers and other prominent citizens in western Russia by Soviet secret police has long soured relations between the two countries. President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Poland in early December.

Soviet propaganda for decades blamed the killings on the Nazis, but post-Soviet Russia previously acknowledged they were carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, or NKVD — Stalin's much feared secret police.

The statement passed by the State Duma appears aimed as a step toward Russia definitively breaking with its Soviet legacy.

Yes! That is what people have been saying for decades! What? It just occurred to Russia that maybe Stalin was responsible for this atrocity? Unbelievable!


North Korea doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit":

North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military manoeuvres put the peninsula on the brink of war, and appeared to launch its own artillery drills within earshot of an island it showered with a deadly barrage this week.

The fresh artillery blasts came just after the top U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp, toured the country's Yeonpyeong Island in a show of solidarity with Seoul and to survey damage from Tuesday's hail of North Korean artillery fire that killed four people.

An official at the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said about 20 blasts were heard on Yeongpyeong coming from North Korea's mainland some 7 miles (11 kilometres) to the north, and that nothing landed on South Korean territory. The military official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing military policy.

Tensions have soared between the Koreas since the North's strike Tuesday destroyed large parts of this island, killing two civilians as well as two marines in a major escalation of their sporadic skirmishes along the sea border.

Let us assume for the moment that North Korea is serious. It would not make such a threat if China was not backing it, nor would it be making that threat if Kim Jong-Il and his fat heir didn't feel emasculated. North Korea (read: the Kim dynasty) wants its funds in the banks and rice for the military. Squeeze them a little. Who will be loyal when they are finally starving? A Chinese-backed military still marches on its stomach.


Why we shouldn't cater to people who masquerade as adults:

A heterosexual British couple is challenging the law on civil partnerships after an application was turned down. At present, only gay couples are eligible. 

Ian Goggin, 21, and Kristin Skarsholt, 22, who are Quakers and live in Bristol, western England, said they wanted the security and stability of a legal commitment without having to get married, the BBC reported. 

They are among eight couples -- four heterosexual, four gay -- taking their case to the courts, arguing the law is discriminatory. 

"The registrar did offer us a marriage, but that's not what we want," Mr. Goggin said. 

"She was really helpful and extremely nice, but she couldn't offer us a civil partnership under [Chapter 1] Section 3 of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004.

"They formally rejected us and helpfully gave us a letter of rejection, which we can take to our legal advisor and mount a campaign against the law." 

Regardless of what country you go, traditional marriages and families offer economic, social and cultural incentives that single people do not. What exactly are these people hoping to achieve? That they have every right not to get married but shack up and not be called pre-determined titles? People want to be patted on the back for waking up in the morning, they really do.



China is not just miffed; it's rude:

Only one of the 140 Chinese guests invited to this year's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony has said he will attend, as Beijing holds scores of activists under house arrest. China remains furious at the award of the prize to Liu Xiaobo, pictured, co-author of Charter 08, a petition for political reform. Mr. Liu has been in detention for almost two years, and his wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest and banned from outsidecontact since the prize was announced last month. Mrs. Liu drew up a list of people she would like to attend the ceremony in Oslo on the couple's behalf, but most have been placed under house arrest or surveillance. Wan Yanhai, a Chinese AIDS activist who fled to the United States in May, is the only person so far to have confirmed his attendance.

Ward Churchill is still a liar and a fraud:

Churchill says he wants to take this all the way to the Supreme Court. He may be able to pull the wool over the eyes of impressionable kids but scholars and academics know what his game is and are on to him. The regents acted correctly in firing him - not for his obscene remarks about 9/11, but because he was terrible at doing his job; teaching objective truth to his students while maintaining the highest standards of scholarship in his published writings. 

And now for something completely bizarre:

Police in New York City say thieves held up the owners of a pizzeria and then fled with a bag of full dough -- the kind that crusts are made of. 

Police say Salvatore LaRosa was charged with robbery after surrendering to police. 

According to court papers, LaRosa and an accomplice followed the owners of Brothers Pizzeria on Staten Island. After donning masks, the papers say, they pointed guns and demanded the men turn over a bag they believed held the day's proceeds. 

But instead, the bag was full of pizza dough. 

Truly a caper quite unlike the Great Train Robbery!

Mid-Week Post

North Korea owes South Korea and Japan an apology:

Before everyone gets too excited about North Korea shelling a South Korean island 75 miles offshore from Seoul, there’s virtually no likelihood that such an aggressive act will escalate into war.

That may seem a foolhardy observation, given North Korea’s repeated aggressions against the South, and it’s record of violating every treaty or agreement it has ever signed.

By the same token, North Korea does not have a friend in the world.


China and Russia are allies of convenience, but their patience is stretched thin by the antics of ailing Kim Jong-il who seems not long for this world and has appointed his son, Kim Jong-un as his successor.
At the same time he has promoted his unpleasant daughter to the rank of Major-General. A dynasty in the making.

The last thing China wants is a war or a crisis on its border. Yet even China can’t harness Kim Jong-il’s rogue regime.

Last year, North Korea declared the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean war, was no longer valid. In other words, it felt free to attack, provoke, mischief-make at will, gambling that South Korea and the U.S. would swallow whatever indignities and outrages foisted on them.

Last March, as if in preparing for shelling the island of Yeonpeong that killed two and injured a couple of dozen, a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean warship, the Cheoan, killing 46 sailors.

That in itself was a warlike act that demanded retaliation. But no. The world urged restraint, as it always does when North Korea needs its butt kicked.

Of course, North Korea is a dangerous country. It should be brought to heel, but is unlikely to be when the Western world is guided by the leaders now in charge. No Reagan or Thatcher on the horizon. Certainly not Obama who prefers to apologize rather than challenge.

North Korea has again reneged on nuclear agreements, and has revved up its nuclear weapons program. It yearns to be viewed as a nuclear power.

What western countries should do, is suspend all aid and commerce with North Korea, whose meager resources are funneled into the military – an army of some 1.2 million, a navy of 1,000 warships, an air force of 2,000 aircraft, plus a potential nuclear force.

All this at the expense of the people. Up to 800,000 North Koreans starve to death annually. Kim Jong-il is, arguably, the only fat chap in the north.

The U.S. and especially South Korea, send food to North Korea, which goes to the military, not the people. Proportionately, this country of 23 million has the biggest army in the world. So let’s stop feeding it. Maybe the generals will then revolt.

Despite its huge military, North Korea is vulnerable. It has no staying power – no oil or resources necessary to fight a war if China and Russia withhold support, as well they may. A big punch, but no follow through.

The last thing China wants is its erratic client state starting a war that would affect China’s economic relations with the U.S. Russia also has limited patience with the fruitcake regime.

I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with one aspect of Mr. Worthington's article. North Korea does have a friend- China. China has been backing North Korea since the Korean War. China gives North Korea aid, weapons, and  sends back starving, desperate refugees. It is illogical -especially for the South Koreans- to believe that China can rein in North Korea. It won't. Indeed, it should have no part in the six party talks. North Korea is already isolated. It's time to remove the Chinese benefactor from the picture. 

 

 

Stop trading with China. Do not give it the opportunity to strong-arm us or our economy. Punish businesses that trade with China or have factories there. They are only exploiting Chinese labourers and depriving their own countrymen of the chance to work. China doesn't care for reason. It cares about money. When the communist government has fewer yuan to work with, it will have fewer yuan to oppress their own people or fund its lapdog, North Korea. 

 

Move on to Japan and South Korea. Remember the eighties? Ask yourselves- who would you rather work with- the avaricious Japanese or the avaricious and completely heartless Chinese? At least the Japanese send the North Koreans food. Encourage Japan and South Korea to nuclearise. Develop plans for dealing with the inevitable floodgate of starving, out-of-work North Koreans. The floodgates will burst sooner than one thinks.  Help South Korea boost its communication with North Korea. Let the North Koreans see how chubby and prosperous the rest of the world is, particularly their cousins to the south. Much of what North Koreans learn of the outside world is from cellphones or DVDs featuring South Korean soap operas (finally pulling their weight). I don't think that method alone will be the end-all but it is a start. Hustle for the Lord. Nothing fries the savage North Korean state like a Christian missionary. There is only one God and it sure as hell isn't Kim Jong-Il.

 

Above all, do not cow to North Korea. Give them nothing. Deprive them of everything, particularly Chinese security. We can either deal with North Korea now or let it go on for another sixty plus years.

Related: some important information.



A news report of the attack:






This site has some excellent analysis.



What this guy said:

Protecting free expression on the left but allowing its suppression on the right would be unacceptable even if "left" were, in fact, "progressive" and "right" were, in fact, "reactionary," for the Charter guarantees free speech, not progressive speech, and any society that allows the disruption of reactionary speech is no longer free. The equation isn't even accurate, though, for nowadays the right tends to be "progressive" and the left "regressive." But never mind. This only adds insult to injury. 

Why are we doing it? First, because these days the left is violent, the right isn't, and it's easier to protect free speech against peaceful protests than violent ones. Second, because the centre-left, in charge of both universities and the justice system, has a soft spot for the far-left from which free-speech deniers are launching their forays. Centrists and extremists of the left are kin under the skin. Left-centrists embrace illiberal institutions from "human rights" tribunals to affirmative discrimination, just like the far-left. While the centre-right is embarrassed by its far-right cousins and disowns them, the centre-left tries to find excuses for the black sheep of its own ideological family....

But removing bullies isn't enough. The next great act of Canadian philanthropy must be to buy out all university administrators' contracts, and replace them with the first persons encountered at the nearest bus stop. Whatever it accomplished scholastically, it would lead to a marked moral improvement of higher education in Canada.

 

Related: mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

 

Defend the pay if you actually earned it:

 

 

This tiny native reserve of 300 people in rural Nova Scotia is governed by three of the highest-paid politicians in Canada, including one band councillor who made almost $1-million in tax-free income last year, according to federal government records. 

Glooscap First Nation Chief Shirley Clarke reacted angrily on Tuesday to what she described as "inaccurate, negative publicity" surrounding aboriginal salaries, which came to light this week and turned the spotlight on her quiet community. 

Yet, Ms. Clarke refused to explain what was inaccurate, or discuss what she and her two band councillors — her sister Lorraine Whitman and their cousin Michael Halliday — are paid. 

On Monday, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released federal documents showing the salaries, honoraria and travel per diems paid to all First Nations chiefs and councillors across the country in 2008/09. 

Hundreds of reserve politicians made six-figure salaries last year, including 82 who were paid more than Prime Minister Stephen Harper's income of roughly $300,000. 

The highest salary — $978,468 — went to an unnamed band councillor at a small Mi'kmaq reserve in Atlantic Canada. 

Although the records do not include the names of individuals or reserves, other details make it possible to identify which reserve is home to the million-dollar councillor. 

The federal records say the councillor represents a band of 304 members. 

The Nova Scotia government also lists Glooscap's population as 304. 

The records say the same reserve received $912,563 in funding from the Indian Affairs Department last year, exactly the amount separately listed in Glooscap's audited 2009 financial statement. 

No other reserve in Atlantic Canada matches the 2009 population of Glooscap and its federal funding amount from that year.

 

 

No, Mr. Saletan, this junk will fly:

 

 

In case you haven't heard, there's a big holiday coming up. No, I don't mean U.S. Thanksgiving. I mean the day before it. Wednesday is the busiest air travel day of the year, and a horde of paranoid zealots -- techno-libertarians, Tea Partiers, rabble-rousers, Internet activists and congressional demagogues -- has decided to make it even worse. They're calling it "National Opt-Out Day." Rather than endure an electronic scan of your body at the security gate, they want you to "opt out" and force the Transportation Security Administration to physically inspect you. Their hero is John Tyner, the man who recorded himself a week ago as he warned a TSA officer not to "touch my junk." 

Ignore these imbeciles. Their plan would clog security lines and ruin your holiday for no good reason. They don't understand the importance of the electronic scans. They're wrong about the scanners' safety. And from the standpoint of dignity, their advice is insane. If you opt out of the scan, you'll get a pat-down instead. You'll trade a fast, invisible, intangible, privacy-protected machine inspection for an unpleasant, extended grope. In effect, you'll be telling TSA to touch your junk.

 

Perhaps Mr. Saletan would like to undergo this humiliating and ultimately pointless search. No one wants to follow the Israeli model, an infinitely better example, because it requires great instincts and better training. If I were the TSA, I'd work on adopting the Israeli model. It's more sanitary.

Interesting:

 

Genetic testing of residents of a remote Chinese village has shown nearly two-thirds of their DNA is of Caucasian origin, lending support to the theory they may be descended from a "lost legion" of Roman soldiers. Tests found the DNA of some villagers in Liqian, on the fringes of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China, was 56% Caucasian in origin. Many of them have blue or green eyes, long noses and even fair hair. A local man, Cai Junnian, nicknamed Cai Luoma (Cai the Roman), is one of many villagers convinced he is descended from the lost legion. Archaeologists plan to conduct digs in the region, along the ancient Silk Road, to search for remains of forts or other structures built by the fabled army unit. The genetic tests have lent weight to the theory Roman legionaries settled in the area in the first century BCE after fleeing a battle.

Monday is Sunday's Unpleasant Cousin

Unless you like Mondays, in which case it is a very nice day.



Give Rex Murphy a pen and set him loose in public:

The University of Waterloo lost something on the night the anti-racists were allowed to pose, instead of Blatchford getting to speak -- something the university's apology only begins to repair. The preening self-righteousness and the hyper arrogance of the protesters put a blot on the university's reputation, dented the exercise of free speech in Canada and gave the rest of the country one more ugly example of "progressive" intolerance. 

Finally, the most chilling and obnoxious statement of an evening rich in them came from one of the protesters: "Our goal was to not let her speak; we accomplished that." If we were looking for a sequence of words that would ornament the lips of a real fascist, "Our goal was to not let her speak ..." would be as perfect a set as under the visiting moon we are allowed to hope for. 

Absolutely. If you scratch a "progressive"- a terrible euphemism for some dope whose idea of freedom involves someone doing exactly what he or she says- you will find the thing he or she claims to abhor and that is a fascist. Yes, how clever the Waterloo nutjobs are chaining themselves together and preventing a well-known author from speaking about her a book, a book about thugs very much like them. Mirrors can be dreadful things for some people.


Related:

By chaining himself by the neck to two women on a stage at the University of Waterloo, Dan Kellar was doing more than adding journalist Christie Blatchford to the list of controversial speakers barred from Canadian university campuses. 

He denounced her "unacademic" and "racist" writing in Helpless, a new book about the failure of law during native protests in Caledonia, Ont. 

Kellar was also loudly announcing his own return to academia after an eventful absence, during which he allied with the radical Anti-Racist Action, built a website focused on social justice, and was arrested but not charged at Toronto's G20 protests. 

He said he is "actively pursuing" a PhD in geography as an "unpaid student" exploring environmental laws with a "decolonial" and "settler" perspective, and currently "articulating my work with my writings and doing the required readings to gain a better understanding of the issues." 

But he has no supervisor, is not taking classes, and has not been in contact with the department for over a year, since two professors refused to continue supervising him because of a dramatic shift in his interests.
"Up until [the bike lock protest, when he identified himself as a graduate student], no one was aware of his intention to return to active status," said Sue Horton, Associate Provost for Graduate Studies at the University of Waterloo. 

"Anybody can do research," she said. 

"But if you are being supervised, then you would be registered and you'd be interacting regularly with your supervisor." 

Until a few days ago, Mr. Kellar's personal website said he was in the joint Waterloo-Wilfrid Laurier PhD program in geography. 

Mr. Kellar's website also said he was under the "advisement" of Daniel Scott, Canada Research Chair in Global Change and Tourism at the University of Waterloo, and Kevin Hanna, associate professor of geography and en-v ironmental studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. 

Those names have since been removed from his website. 

Mr. Kellar said he is "in discussion with several professors who are engaged in critical research."
Prof. Scott said he refused to continue as Mr. Kellar's main supervisor over a year ago, when Mr. Kellar's interests diverged from Prof. Scott's own work on the human aspects of climate change. 

"All of a sudden, he wasn't interested in working on the projects [about climate change planning] that were funded, that he originally came in to work on," said Prof. Hanna, a co-supervisor. "It doesn't happen very often." 

Mr. Kellar said he and Prof. Scott "parted ways as I did not wish to work in climate change adaptation or mitigation research as I felt it was not critical of the role of transnational and neoliberal capitalism in the perpetuation of global ecological shifts." 

Maybe all that hot air Kellar was blowing  was causing climate change.



Thank God they weren't making peanut butter sandwiches or saying the Rosary!

Pupils at Islamic schools across the country are being taught to chop off a criminal's hand and that Jews are conspiring to take over the world, a BBC investigation claimed on Monday.

Up to 5,000 pupils aged between six and 18 are being taught Sharia law punishments using "weekend-school" text-books which claim those who do not believe in Islam will be subjected to "hellfire" in death, the Panorama programme said.

A text book for 15-year-olds advises: "For thieves their hands will be cut off for a first offence, and their foot for a subsequent offence."

"The specified punishment of the thief is cutting off his right hand at the wrist. Then it is cauterised to prevent him from bleeding to death," it added.

Young pupils are warned that the punishment for engaging in homosexual acts is death by stoning, burning with fire or throwing off a cliff and that the "main goal" of the Jews is to "have control over the world and its resources."

The schools are part of the "Saudi Students Clubs and Schools in the UK and Ireland" organisation. The BBC investigation claimed that one school in London is owned by the Saudi government.

I'm sure some politically correct moron will warn of the dangers of Catechism class. I mean- how dare Catholics teach children things like transubstantiation or why we pray to Mary? Those things are clearly subtexts for radicalism.


Why are we trading with China?

A Chinese father jailed for "inciting social disorder" after campaigning for victims of melamine-tainted milk may have been forced to sack his lawyers, a rights group said Monday.

Zhao Lianhai, whose child was one of 300,000 sickened in the scandal in 2008, when six died, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison earlier this month.

The China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, a Hong Kong-based organisation, said his two lawyers had tried to visit him at the Daxing detention centre, near Beijing, on Monday, but were not allowed to meet him.

In a statement the CHRLCG said his pair "suddenly received a note, with Zhao's signature and fingerprint, indicating to dismiss them as his lawyers" from the chief of the detention centre.

Pointing out that Zhao had stated his intention to appeal and Monday was the last day for him to do so, the CHRLCG said it was "strange" for him to sack the lawyers at that point and the note "might not represent Zhao's own wish".

"It was suspected that the Chinese government has been aggressively applying every measure to stop Zhao from lodging an appeal," the group said, adding that the move was "seriously violating the two lawyers' right to represent their client.

"We are very concerned whether Zhao has been coerced and faced any torture in the detention centre," it said, adding that Zhao's wife had given them a similar note.

The development came as state media said that authorities in central China were searching for a batch of dairy products containing high levels of melamine, the chemical involved in the scandal.

The government in Hubei province's Xiangfan city has asked all local businesses to look for 50 packages of a corn-flavoured dairy drink, the official China Daily newspaper reported.

Tests showed the melamine levels in the drinks were high, suggesting that the chemical -- which is normally used in making plastics -- was deliberately added during the production process, the report said.

When one purchases toys or candy for one's children this Christmas, just make sure those things don't come from China. Not even the Chinese children or their parents are safe.


What's wrong with this picture?

A 13-year-old American boy campaigning to turn the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea into a peace park has been taken away by Chinese police after staging a brief protest near Tiananmen Square.

Jonathan Lee unfurled a sign saying "peace treaty" and "nuclear free DMZ children's peace forest" as he stood outside the Forbidden City on Monday.

A man presumed to be a plainclothes officer grabbed Lee's sign less than a minute later and waved away journalists who had been contacted by Lee's family ahead of time.

Lee and his mother were escorted away by police.

Lee made a rare visit to Pyongyang in August to propose his idea of a "children's peace forest" in the demilitarized zone.

Lee is from Ridgeland, Mississippi.

One would think this would be a sobering lesson for young Mr. Lee. The North Korean government is not interested in peace and, assuming South and North Korea were to ever reunite, there would be nothing as  banal as a "peace park". This story is why we should never let leftists fill children's heads with stuff and nonsense.  Getting children to take part in these empty, superficial crusades does nothing to address the tyranny and various logistical issues concerning North and South Korea. Why not tell children that a bad, fat man is oppressing and starving children just like them? How is a ridiculous little peace park going to fix their starvation and boatload of  emotional issues, not to mention their futures (if they have them)? How is it going to erase the propaganda fed into them since birth? Not only are ideas like "peace parks" silly but they don't even remotely address what is really wrong. Empty, useless, counter-productive gestures don't feed the poor. Faith without works, as they say.



Related: North Korea has a "stunning" new nuclear plant.



Nothing short of terrible:

A stampede on a bridge in Cambodia’s capital killed at least 339 people and injured nearly as many after thousands panicked on the last day of a water festival, authorities and state media said on Tuesday.

Witnesses said the stampede began after several people were electrocuted late on Monday on a small bridge lined with lights connecting Phnom Penh to nearby Diamond Island. Most drowned, suffocated or were trampled to death trying to flee.

State television said at least 240 of the dead were women, citing reports from two city hospitals.

“People were carrying bodies of relatives, including children and women,” said Vann Thon, 25. “Everyone was looking scared.”


Prime Minister Hun Sen apologized for the disaster in which 329 people were hurt and ordered an investigation, as television footage showed relatives crying over the bodies of the dead piled up on each other.

“This is the biggest tragedy in more than 31 years after the Pol Pot regime,” he said, referring to the murderous Khmer Rouge, whose agrarian revolution from 1975-1979 killed an estimated 1.7 million people in Cambodia under the command of Pol Pot.

Too much dough:

 

 

Scores of First Nations chiefs and council members earn more than the Prime Minister of Canada, according to newly released data obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation — a revelation that is prompting calls for greater financial transparency on native reserves.

The figures, obtained through access to information requests, reveal that in 2008-09, over 80 reserve politicians earned more than the after-tax income of $184,000 made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the same period. The data also shows that 222 reserve politicians were paid more in tax-free income in 2008-09 than their respective provincial premiers, who averaged an after-tax income of $109,893. 

One reserve politician in Atlantic Canada was found to have been paid a combined tax-free salary and honorarium totaling an astounding $978,468.

“This shocking information confirms what we’ve been saying all along: there are a lot of reserve politicians that are blatantly abusing their powers to set their own pay levels and hide it from the public,” said Colin Craig, prairie director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It’s absolutely disgusting and band members should be outraged about this.”

Even while thousands of First Nations members continue to live in abject poverty, more than 700 reserve politicians earned an income equivalent to over $100,000 off reserve, according to the data
While the names of individual chiefs and councillors of the more than 570 reserves have been blacked out, the released records disclose salaries, honorariums and travel expenses, painting the most complete picture to date of the remuneration — and bizarre accounting practices — of First Nations leadership across the country. 

Perhaps some of the chiefs' salaries could be used to tackle those momentous social problems?



I wonder why:

If an election were held tomorrow, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberals would be voted out of office, says a new poll. The poll, done by Ipsos Reid exclusively for Postmedia News and Global News, found that 41% of respondents who were decided voters said they would elect the provincial Progressive Conservatives, under leader Tim Hudak, if the election took place now. 

The Liberals trailed behind with 32% support; the NDP with 20%; and the Green party with 7%.

And now for something completely enlightening.

Friday Post

Not getting a Christmas bonus this year?

A county employee in Arizona has been fired after mistakenly euthanizing a dog that saved soldiers in Afghanistan and lived through explosions in the war-torn country, officials announced Friday.

The unidentified Pinal County animal control employee euthanized the female shepherd mix on Monday and was immediately placed on administrative leave.

Horrifying:

After a disabled 10-year-old Australian girl went missing in this small city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, her family's former home became an impromptu memorial piled with stuffed animals and birthday cards.


Now it sits with its front windows smashed by vandals, while frustrated residents complain that the investigation into her death is taking too long, even as increasingly bizarre and potentially damning revelations about Zahra Baker's stepmother and father pile up.

The case has riveted followers in North Carolina and Australia, where she was born and where her biological mother still lives. She was reported missing on Oct. 9 and last week police confirmed everyone's worst fears: A bone from her body and other suspected remains were found in two remote spots.

No charges have been filed in her death, though her stepmother is accused of obstructing justice in the investigation and led police to the remains.

The area's top prosecutor is defending the pace of his investigation. In fact, similar cases have been notoriously difficult to prosecute and rushing into charges unsupported by evidence could be more disastrous than waiting.

"Once we have a complete picture of the events surrounding Zahra's disappearance and her death, we will meet with law enforcement to determine what, if any, charges are required," District Attorney James Gaither Jr. wrote in an email in response to questions from The Associated Press.

After Zahra's disappearance, scrutiny immediately fell on her stepmother, Elisa Baker, and father, Adam Baker, after police publicly doubted their story of how she vanished from their home and neighbours talked about their suspicions of abuse.

Elisa Baker's attorneys have said in court documents that their client told police two weeks ago that Zahra "was deceased, that her body had been dismembered and that it would be recovered at different sites." Elisa Baker then accompanied police to sites where the remains were found.

What is Russia's angle in this?

NATO will invite Russia to take part in a U.S.-European missile defense shield at a summit on Saturday, a move that would herald the closest cooperation between the powers since the end of the Cold War.


NATO leaders agreed on Friday to develop a missile system to protect the territory of all NATO member states in Europe and North America. It will be capable of intercepting long-range missiles fired from the Middle East.

Russia will be invited to be involved in the system when President Dmitry Medvedev meets U.S. President Barack Obama and other NATO leaders at the summit in Portugal, but it remains unclear what role Moscow might play.

When you are not a bastion of human rights, it's probably not a good idea to cast aspersions:

Vietnam's communist government has slammed the U.S. State Department's annual religious freedom report, calling it biased and based on incorrect information.


The report on the status of religious freedom worldwide, released Wednesday, noted an improved respect for religious freedom and practices in Vietnam, but said significant problems remained....

Vietnam's foreign ministry said the report "continues to produce biased assessment that is built on incorrect information on Vietnam."

"In Vietnam, the rights to freedom of belief and religion of the Vietnamese people are enshrined in the national constitution and are respected and guaranteed in reality," ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said in a statement posted on the ministry's website late Thursday.

There are a dozen sanctioned religions in Vietnam, a nation of 86 million people, with Buddhism and Christianity the largest. Those not recognized by the communist government are outlawed.

Once again, Christie Blatchford:

Maria and Dieter Rauscher came to Canada from Germany as immigrants. In 1978, Dieter transferred into a management position with Lake Erie Steel (now U.S. Steel Canada) at Nanticoke, a short trip south of Caledonia. The couple moved to a rambling old farmhouse on a small acreage on the Sixth Line, east of Six Nations.

On the morning of April 20, 2006, Maria and Dieter were still in bed when they heard police cruisers speeding by on the Sixth Line, heading east toward the train tracks.

“As we look out the window,” Dieter says, “there was a Suburban or something like that, a big one, stopped, and cops get out. They were standing there with hands behind their backs. Six or eight of them. And there were about three or four Indians who came out the back here.”

Dieter watched as one of the officers pulled out a piece of paper and began reading something — presumably the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)’s warning to protesters — aloud.

“All of a sudden, there was a big kerfuffle,” he says. “Out of the bush came another twenty people … there were already people coming from Six Nations down the road. And they all walked by our entrance to our driveway, they all had sticks, baseball bats.”

The OPP, seeing the crowd, just “high-tailed it” and took off.

“That,” Dieter says, “was the last police we saw.”

Quebec is finished (sorry, Quebec, but you knew this was coming):

Ironically, the Conference Board concludes that a balanced budget could be achieved by hiking the Quebec sales tax from 9.5 to 19.5%, between 2012 and 2031. It notes that France currently has a similarly high Value Added Tax of 19.6%. Almost risibly, the report asks, “But is it politically “doable” in Quebec?” Answer: in an election year – or any year – it is about as likely to happen as Mr. Charest shaving his head.

But the Conference Board also posits another path to fiscal sanity: questioning the entitlements which cost Quebecers so dearly in the first place. Universal health care and rock-bottom university tuition fees make the report’s list: add to that $7-a-day daycare, free in vitro treatments, child assistance payments, and subsidized private schools.

Ironically these pricey programs are the same ones designed to combat what the Conference Board pinpoints as the source of Quebec’s malaise: its low birth rate and aging population. While the province’s fertility rate has increased slightly over the past decade, Quebecers need to ask themselves: is it enough to warrant these expenditures, while the public purse bleeds dry? Or is it time to curb the largesse of the state, before it’s too late? As the report notes in its conclusion, ultimately, “it is up to the people of Quebec” to make that decision. 

And, of course, up to their leaders to implement it.

When Iran isn't killing one of our citizens, it's warning fellow Iranians not to go to Canada. To what end, I don't know.

 

IRI’s [Islamic Republic of Iran] Foreign Ministry has warned Iranian nationals against traveling to Canada as the new wave of Islamophobia is sweeping across the North American country.

 

The ministry issued a statement on Tuesday, cautioning Iranian citizens who plan to visit Canada to take precautionary steps.

The statement warns that the wave of Islamophobia in the Western countries has expanded its reach and is claiming new victims as a number of Muslims, especially Iranian nationals, have been deported under different pretexts, while Ottawa actively hinders Iranian nationals who want to seek justice through the Canadian courts, IRIB reported.

Many Muslims, particularly Iranians, are deprived of their social and political rights…

Because, as we all know, Canada hangs homosexuals, stones allegedly adulterous women to death, threatens Israel and shoots students in the streets. Oh wait! That isn't us!


In other news, China sucks:



A new report by a panel of U.N.-appointed experts confirms what we’ve really known all along — that China is acting in bad faith by helping North Korea violate three U.N. resolutions China’s U.N. Ambassador voted for. 

Besides, U.S. officials believed, the global issues on the table were far too important to be disrupted by a minor perennial irritant such as arms sales to Taiwan. 

But Chinese leaders clearly saw a link between their cooperation on global issues such as climate change, Iran and North Korea, and American arms sales to Taiwan. 

"The U.S. thinks China's recent reactions are provocative or even arrogant," said Yuan Peng, director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. "But China thinks that China didn't change. Taiwan and meeting the Dalai Lama have always been the core interests of China. These are never minor issues. 

"China is disappointed by the Obama administration," Yuan added. "Before, China thought Obama was the president for change, and he would have some new thoughts about cooperation between great nations. However, he has no essential difference from other previous presidents." 

I guess the Americans aren't moving fast enough for the Chinese.



Weighing in on body searches at the airport:

And now three months later, the newest airport hero arrives. His genius was not innovation in getting out, but deconstructing the entire process of getting in. John Tyner, cleverly armed with an iPhone to give YouTube immortality to the encounter, took exception to the TSA guard about to give him the benefit of Homeland Security's newest brainstorm - the upgraded, full-palm, up the groin, all-body pat-down. In a stroke, the young man ascended to myth, or at least the next edition of Bartlett's, warning the agent not to "touch my junk." 

Not quite the 18th-century elegance of "Don't Tread on Me," but the age of Twitter has a different cadence from the age of the musket....

 

(Sidebar: I'll say.)

The ultimate idiocy is the full-body screening of the pilot. The pilot doesn't need a bomb or box cutter to bring down a plane. All he has to do is drive it into the water, like the EgyptAir pilot who crashed his plane off Nantucket while intoning "I rely on God," killing all on board. 

But we must not bring that up. We pretend that we go through this nonsense as a small price paid to ensure the safety of air travel. Rubbish. This has nothing to do with safety - 95 percent of these inspections, searches, shoe removals and pat-downs are ridiculously unnecessary. The only reason we continue to do this is that people are too cowed to even question the absurd taboo against profiling - when the profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known. So instead of seeking out terrorists, we seek out tubes of gel in stroller pouches. 

The junk man's revolt marks the point at which a docile public declares that it will tolerate only so much idiocy. Metal detector? Back-of-the-hand pat? Okay. We will swallow hard and pretend airline attackers are randomly distributed in the population. 

But now you insist on a full-body scan, a fairly accurate representation of my naked image to be viewed by a total stranger? Or alternatively, the full-body pat-down, which, as the junk man correctly noted, would be sexual assault if performed by anyone else? 

This time you have gone too far, Big Bro'. The sleeping giant awakes. Take my shoes, remove my belt, waste my time and try my patience. But don't touch my junk.

Related: TSA Training Lacking:

A government investigation came to a conclusion many travelers have voiced for years: TSA’s security screeners should be better trained.....



Among the shortcomings that the inspector general found: TSA doesn’t have standard processes to use screener test results, such as “covert testing’’ where government officials try to smuggle weapons through checkpoints, to evaluate and update training programs. On-the-job training is lacking, and TSA doesn’t have uniform steps to “to ensure that officers have the tools and time necessary to complete training requirements,’’ the IG’s report said.

In addition, there aren’t standard procedures for allocating equipment, support and time needed to complete training requirements, either, the report found.

“Without guidance and a documented process for updating training based on screener performance data and changes in technology or equipment, TSA may be missing opportunities to enhance its [screeners’] skills and abilities,’’ the inspector general said.

The study found problems with computers used in on-the-job training for screeners, such as machines that were slow or malfunctioning and networks that crashed. The agency hasn’t consistently allocated computers nationwide, the investigation found. One airport had one training computer for every 32 screeners while another had one computer for every screening officer. And training locations are often inconvenient to screening checkpoints and baggage areas, or placed in break rooms or areas close to checkpoints where screeners were taking training courses “surrounded by the conversations of coworkers or the traveling public,’’ the report said.

Oh great....



And now for something completely cuddly.

Mid-Week Post

Wheeeeeee!

It may be the least surprising confirmation in American politics this year — Sarah Palin is considering a bid for the White House in 2012.

Although Palin has been dropping broad hints for months about a possible presidential campaign, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee has told the New York Times that she is in active discussions with her family about mounting a campaign.

“I’m engaged in the internal deliberations candidly and having that discussion with my family, because my family is the most important consideration here,” Palin told journalist Robert Draper in an interview for an article to be published Sunday.

Family considerations aside, Palin said another significant consideration is whether Americans believe she has enough experience to run the country.

“I know that a hurdle I would have to cross, that some other potential candidates wouldn’t have to cross right out of the chute, is proving my record.”

Ms. Palin is among a crowded group of potential GOP contenders, several of whom have more extensive records in government — including Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

A Gallup poll released this week found Romney holding a narrow lead among GOP hopefuls, with 19 per cent support of party members. Palin and Huckabee tied for second with 16% support.

Mrs. Palin has to raise that number in order to make a successful run.




Even the Americans know Harper has gotten it right:

It's an odd time we're living in. Canada, the semi-socialist state may have just taken over the U.S as being the biggest supporter of Israel, morally speaking

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his subordinates have taken a consistently admirable stance when it comes to defending Israel, and recently the prime minister gave a solid speech upping Canada's commitment to the bastion of civilization in the middle east....

 We've gotten to the point where Canada has become the sole vocal government in North America to morally defend Israel's right to exist? What's more shocking in a tragic way, is Canada is being punished both by the U.N (not surprised) and the United States (tragically surprised) for taking their courageous stance against the thugs attacking Israel.

This defense of Israel coming from Harper couldn't have come at a better time. The U.S government which has historically been Israel's greatest and most outspoken ally has all but abandoned them morally. The Obama administration has been spiting on Israel's right to exist through its consistent pandering to the Islamic world, which has always held the dream of seeing Israel stamped out of existence. This coupled with the abusive treatment he has given Israel and its leadership makes it clear that at least for the mean time, the U.S government won't be arguing for the Israeli side in the world's stage.

In world affairs, Canada's played the supporting role with the U.S for some time now. But in this case, let there be no doubt, Canada is the hero. In this time where Israel is being abandoned and disrespected by the Obama administration, and being constantly attacked by its enemies both through violence and denunciations, this North American country is taking a stand in the side of righteousness. And is willing to pay for it too. Just like a hero. Just like America not too long ago.

Once again, Christie Blatchford:

The government and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) had one thing in common: an enemy, Gary McHale, who was coming to town with his “March for Freedom” rally.

He had a standard message: “We’re having a rally. There’s no swearing, no racial slurs, no violence allowed, no criminal behaviour.” Yet, in short order, McHale had managed to offend just about everyone — every level of government, natives and their supporters, the OPP and the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA).


McHale and his wife Christine had just come off Highway 403 and turned onto Highway 6 south, heading for Caledonia, when they were approached by an OPP cruiser with lights flashing. It was about ten thirty in the morning.

One of the officers got out of the cruiser, walked up to McHale’s open window, and said the purpose of the stop was to advise him that if he attempted to raise a Canadian flag at the rally, he would be arrested.

The officer, Detective Sergeant Bernie Cowan, and his partner, Detective Sergeant Doug Cousens, had attended a “special briefing” about the planned McHale stop earlier that morning, where they were directed by Detective Sergeant Greg Walton to tell McHale that “raising flags in a certain location would be considered a breach of the peace because of the situation.”

The have-not province McGunity built will rely on hookers to tax dollars:

With just over one week to go before sex workers can openly do business in Ontario, the federal government is warning that the province will become Canada’s prostitution hub and there will be legal uncertainty in other provinces unless a judge stays a court ruling that struck down anti-prostitution laws. 

The Justice Department, in a written legal brief, asserts that “one single judge of one single superior court” should not be able to ravage Canadian law.

Failure to suspend Justice Susan Himel’s ruling, pending an appeal, will cause “irreparable harms to the public interest,” says the federal factum, filed in the Ontario Court of Appeal in advance of a Monday court hearing on whether to grant the stay.

Not surprising:

Only slight improvement has been made on cutting wait times in five priority health-care areas, according to an annual report, and governments are failing to apply targets to a broader range of specialties.

The 2009 report card released Thursday by the Wait Time Alliance, says there remains “much unfinished business,” in improving the amount of time between when a patient is referred by a family doctor to when treatment is provided by a specialist. The WTA is made up of 13 medical associations including the Canadian Medical Association.

The report also notes that patients are still having a hard time accessing information about wait times.

The winds they doth blow...onto McGuinty's car:

Tuesday's rainstorm and high winds caused a portion of a construction wall to fall onto Premier Dalton McGuinty's car, his press secretary said. The storm, with its heavy rain and wind gusts of at least 50 kilometres an hour, lashed the city for most of the day, beginning in the afternoon. In an interview, Jane Almeida said Mr. McGuinty's car was parked on the east side of Queen's Park around 6:15 p.m. when a wind gust knocked a piece of scaffolding onto the Toyota hybrid. Mr. McGuinty, pictured, was still in his office at the time of the accident. The provincial legislature is undergoing repairs. "Basically, because of the high winds some of the scaffolding fell on the car," Ms. Almeida said. "I've been told that it's minor damage. There were no injuries."

Something disturbing:

Increasing the legal age of sexual consent does not protect youth most at risk, as children 12 years old and younger have reported sexual experiences with adults, new British Columbia-based research suggests. 

In the first study of its kind in Canada, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University researchers studied data of more than 29,000 students between Grade 7 and Grade 12 and found that some respondents had sex before they were 12 with partners who were at least 20 years old. 

"The law was changed to protect 14 and 15 year olds from adult sexual predators. But it turns out they're not the ones at greatest risk," said lead investigator Bonnie Miller. "We found children under 13, already protected by the existing law, were the ones most likely to report first sex with adults age 20 years or older."
Her team's findings were published on Tuesday in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. 

Legal age of consent increased in 2008 to 16 years old from 14 to protect younger teenagers. But the study shows the change clearly isn't helping children, said Elizabeth Saewyc, a UBC professor. 

She said Canadians need to work on preventing the sexual abuse children and teens are facing, first by making sure youth understand they need to tell a family member or guardian if they encounter sexual abuse.

Sexual activity has been normalised, even celebrated, and this is the result- perverts targeting children. We don't need more pamphlets or social workers. We need stronger penalties for mongrels who prey on children.

The shadowy underbelly. Or something:

In the past year, I've written roughly 5,000 pages of scholarly literature, most on very tight deadlines. But you won't find my name on a single paper.

I've written toward a master's degree in cognitive psychology, a Ph.D. in sociology, and a handful of postgraduate credits in international diplomacy. I've worked on bachelor's degrees in hospitality, business administration, and accounting. I've written for courses in history, cinema, labor relations, pharmacology, theology, sports management, maritime security, airline services, sustainability, municipal budgeting, marketing, philosophy, ethics, Eastern religion, postmodern architecture, anthropology, literature, and public administration. I've attended three dozen online universities. I've completed 12 graduate theses of 50 pages or more. All for someone else.

You've never heard of me, but there's a good chance that you've read some of my work. I'm a hired gun, a doctor of everything, an academic mercenary. My customers are your students. I promise you that. Somebody in your classroom uses a service that you can't detect, that you can't defend against, that you may not even know exists.

Who is worse- the miscreant who is willing to pay for a paper he or she claims to have written or the one who writes it?

Finally! Someone admits it!

South Korea's peaceful "Sunshine Policy" toward North Korea failed, a government report has found, saying there have been no positive changes to Pyongyang's behavior despite a decade of mass aid and encouragement.

Aid shipped to the North during the administrations of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun from 1998-2008 also failed to make a difference to the lives of destitute North Koreans, said the Unification Ministry white paper, seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The policy review by current President Lee Myung-bak's government pointed to North Korea's pursuit of nuclear arms and the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March that killed 46 sailors as key examples of Pyongyang's deceptive nature.

"The attack on the Cheonan proves that despite the qualitative growth in inter-Korea ties, North Korea has not changed," the report said.

See! Appeasing your enemies doesn't work!




And now for something completely cool.