Stuff That Happened This Year

Stuff happened and it was awesome.


Well- not all of it.


January: Sarah Palin had an entire month dedicated to her. The "Arab Spring" began. China is an octopus. "Baby Doc" Duvalier was arrested in Haiti. The tragedy of the Brazilian landslides.


February: Sarah Palin Month! Yay! Mubarak is out. In this golden month, Sarkozy admitted that the Euro-dream of multiculturalism was a sham. Ladies and gentlemen, La Marseillaise. Somehow knowing that when one Kim goes, another must follow, China horned in on North Korea's succession racket and backs Kim Jong-Eun, further entrenching its octopus status. Gadaffi won't find this funny a few months from now. An earthquake rattled Christchurch, New Zealand. Let's not forget the Little House of Horrors in Philadelphia.


March: Japan was sucker-punched with one of the worst earthquakes in its history yet did not descend into chaos. Amazing.  Rex Murphy called total pig crap on Jew Hatred Israel Apartheid Week. The dawning of Celebrity Apartheid Week.


April: The "Arab Spring" has sprung... and it's trouble. BCF blew the lid on some malfeasance... and didn't get credited! Russia honoured a man who isn't Pavel Chekov. The Sun TV News network went on the air.


May: That is Blessed John Paul II to you. Obama ordered bin Laden killed... or something. Too little, too late. It doesn't change the fact that George Bush was awesome during the September 11th crisis.  Harper ploughed through the opposition. Slave Lake fire. Just a little event called... March for Life! Maybe you've heard of it?  Caught in a lie.


June: Dalton McGuinty set the mind-rape of children ball rolling. The wholesale slaughter of Syrians. Linda Gibbons was set free. Someone thought combing through Sarah Palin's e-mails would reveal winning Lotto numbers or something. A sizable segment of Vancouverites proved to be douchebags and ransacked the downtown area. Toronto mayor Rob Ford opted for the company of family and the comfort of the cottage over a mandatory sleaze-fest.


July: John Baird's refusal to accept North Korea as an honest broker was marred by his complete acceptance of China as an honest broker. Ontario is a have-not province. The CBC refused to name war criminals hiding in Canada. A madman in Norway went on a rampage.


August: North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island and rioting in England. The Keystone Pipeline came under fire from people who have no clue what they are talking about. Christie Blatchford called silly people out on the canonisation of the deceased Jack Layton. His death overshadowed the death of a deeper man.


September: Ezra Levant was as mad as hell at the Saudis and wasn't going to take it anymore. Canada proved to be a better friend to Israel than the US. Pope Benedict XVI visited Germany and was totally honey badger about it. Greece knows how to blow a budget.



October: Steve Jobs passed away. Tim Hudak took defeat out of the jaws of victory. Occupiers introduced us to a culture of filth, waste and rape.



November: BC upheld the ban on polygamy. There was yet another crisis at Attawapiskat.



December:  Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Accord, much to China's dismay. Christopher Hitchens' death removed in his mind the possibility of God. Kim Jong-Il died. The world rejoiced.


And Christmas happened.


Here is to hoping that the next year will be better.

A Post For It Is Thursday

Taking a break from eating the various kinds of candy hidden throughout the house to ponder on events more recent.


The North Koreans certainly know how to put on a state funeral (take that, Jack Layton mourners!). And now, it's business as usual, or at least until there is a power struggle or an exodus of starving people:


North Korea said Friday that rival South Korea and other nations should not expect any change from the country's new leadership.

A day after North Korea ended official mourning for Kim Jong Il and declared his son Kim Jong Un supreme leader, the North's powerful National Defence Commission sent a tough message to leaders in Seoul and Washington.

"We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us," the commission said in a statement.

North Korea's power brokers on Thursday publicly declared Kim Jong Un the country's supreme leader for the first time at a massive public memorial for his father. The ceremony cemented the family's hold on power for another generation.



I find it adorable that North Korea thinks South Korea is the puppet state, not itself.



I bet that Keystone Pipeline is looking really good right about now.



An attack on a Muslim convert in Uganda always inspires the most interesting opinions. And by interesting, I mean reactionary, stupid and bafflingly defeatist.


First, the article:



Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other....

Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked on Saturday night (Dec. 24) outside his Gospel Life Church International building in Namasuba, about 10 kilometers (six miles) outside of Kampala.

CDN reported that from his hospital bed in Kampala, the bishop told Compass that he was on his way back to the site for a party with the entire congregation and hundreds of new converts to Christianity when a man who claimed to be a Christian approached him.

“I heard him say in a loud voice, ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and as I made a turn and looked at him, he poured the liquid onto my face as others poured more liquid on my back and then fled away shouting, ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater],’” Mulinde said, still visibly traumatized two days after the assault.

Mulinde’s face, neck and arms bore deep black scars from the acid, and his lips were swollen, CDN said.

A doctor told Compass that acid burns cover about 30 percent of his face and has cost him sight in one eye.

“We are doing all we can to save his other remaining eye and to contain the acid from spreading to other parts of the body,” the doctor said.

Mulinde said Muslim extremists opposed to his conversion from Islam and his outspoken opposition of sharia (Islamic law) courts in Uganda attacked him.

CDN also stated that on Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death. Mulinde is known for debates locally and internationally in which he often challenges Muslims regarding their religion.



And now the reaction:



You call taunting people "courage?" This is definitely a case of bringing it on himself.



I'm going to say why this kind of thinking is not only stupid but dangerous.



Leftism and liberalism are forms of mental illness. Devoid of logic, any impulse, written, spoken or acted out, is perfectly acceptable in liberalism. Hatred is one of its hallmarks. Does the quote above sound like something a perfectly rational, thinking, feeling human being would utter?


Instructing to one who is a child, hurting people because they make you mad is wrong. This is what you say to a child of five who can't get that kicking a classmate who wouldn't share his crayons is a beastly thing to do. That one must explain this to one who appears to be an adult just puts the cultural and natural evolution of the human species to shame.


Secondly, I didn't realise that speaking against sharia law, especially when a death sentence is hanging over one's head, qualified as "taunting". I always assumed that adults of good breeding and education were permitted to speak their minds particularly when something as barbaric, misogynist and bigoted as sharia was on the line. But one must remember that according to liberalism/leftism, "taunting" can mean being active, vocal or simply existing. As a liberal, when something bothers you and you know not why, it must be extremely unfair and steps must be taken to ensure one never has to endure the indignity of defending a position that makes no sense whatsoever.


Now we get to an uglier aspect of this horrid reactionary bit of drivel: the excuse and approval of violence to silence the so-called offending party. A well-adjusted human being can accept, if not necessarily agree with, differences of opinion and culture. How well-adjusted is it to say:


This is definitely a case of bringing it on himself.



Just like the girl in the mini-skirt, right?


Except not.


Rational people don't explode into fury every time something annoys or angers them and they certainly wouldn't accept the jump from slight to violence. I'm having a hard time reconciling maiming someone with acid over slights real or imagined, which is the default position for Islamofascists' cause de jour. Any time you're angry, just lash out. Surely the comment-writer can see how this supposedly acceptable impulse could backfire.


But, then again, liberalism/leftism was never about rationalism or even basic humanity.



And now - Good God! A S'Mores Quesadilla?! It's true!

Christmas Week: Coda

I'd like to thank all those who extended Christmas wishes. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I was too busy feasting.

Now begins the fairly quick crawl to the new year and what it may entail...

Christmas Week: T'was the Eve Before the Eve of Christmas

Christmas Eve Eve, I think.


Anyway, North Korea possesses the temerity to be offended by South Korea's refusal to saddened by the death of Kim Jong-Il:

North Korea has accused South Korea of an "intolerable" response to Kim Jong-Il's death, a blast that came as diplomats at the United Nations held a mass boycott of a tribute to the late leader.

Pyongyang's official media says millions are braving bitter cold to mourn the "Dear Leader" after his sudden death on December 17 -- and South Koreans are welcome to join the condolences.

Its Uriminzokkiri website said any mourning delegations from the South would be accepted, and lashed out at the Seoul government's "inhuman" decision to allow only two such visits.

The world is closely watching Kim's chosen successor -- his untested youngest son Kim Jong-Un -- for clues about the future direction of the impoverished but nuclear-armed state.

Uriminzokkiri's comments, dated Thursday and seen Friday, seemed to suggest no immediate change in frosty cross-border ties.

The South blames its neighbour for two deadly border attacks last year but has taken a conciliatory stance since Monday's announcement of Kim's death.

The government sent its sympathies to the North's people, scrapped a controversial plan to display Christmas lights near the border and announced that South Koreans could send pre-approved condolence messages northwards.

It said there would be no Seoul government delegation to offer condolences but authorised two groups to pay respects in Pyongyang.

I certainly wouldn't back down if I ran South Korea and I wouldn't go so far as to satisfy formalities.



How brain-washed are the North Koreans, anyway? I don't just mean the constant indoctrination. I mean the inability to see how one dictator's death would not inspire even a faint wisp of sorrow. It's a good thing North Korea has China do its thinking for it. Any analyst worth his salt would clearly see that there is no love lost between the two Koreas because of the nearly sixty year long friction. Boy, is the younger Kim Fatty in for a surprise.



What do you get when you cross a dead North Korean dictator with a leftist professor? A rather stupid article at Daily Kos:



(Sidebar: I won't link directly to Daily Kos as I find it rancid. You may go there if you wish.)

While North Korea may behave in a strange fashion at times, its political history is no less responsible toward its own citizens than the history of the South, especially the recent history that was dominated in the 1960s to 1980s by dictatorial regimes that practiced torture and mass arrest.  While we hear of starvation and torture in North Korea, these are far less well documented than the recent history of the South. As for the nuclear weapons issue, we should also recall that the USA has been the only country to use nuclear weapons, and we used them on civilians.  If the world is to be afraid of the use of these weapons by a renegade nation, one should look at the definition of the word in the context of the Bush Administration waging war in violation of international law and by the use of evidence it knew was tainted.  We cannot expect a world of law and respect after such behavior. 

It isn't all moral equivalence, lop-sided comparisons, outright lies, anti-Americanism and North Korea love. There's also some dreamy recollections of Japan's hermit kingdom. Isn't it marvelous?  Except that the Japanese opened their country up long enough to modernise their military, which they then used in a fanatical attempt to take over all of Asia; that North Korea is a Third World communist dictatorship and South Korea (now) and the United States are democratic republics. Way to gloss over those very important points there, Nicky.



(with invaluable thanks)




File under: DO NOT TRADE WITH CHINA:

Today, a court in Sichuan province handed down a nine-year sentence to Chen Wei on similar charges, also for his writings. Chen Wei’s case is part of a larger crackdown inspired by the Communist Party’s fear that Chinese citizens might emulate Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” and other Arab pro-democracy protest movements.  Both Liu’s and Chen’s sentences are unusually harsh and reflect the Communist Party’s fear that powerful writings on the Internet are damaging the Party’s control.  The essays cited by the court as evidence of Chen’s subversion focused on his arguments about the Communist Party. 

North Korean Christians are still at risk for persecution:

A day after authorities announced the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, several Christian organizations are calling for prayers for the nation's persecuted Christians, one of many so-called dissident groups that have suffered under the North Korean regime....

North Korean Christians are routinely arrested for practicing their religion, according to human rights organizations. Other more traditional religions, such as Buddhism and Shamanism, are slightly more tolerated in the country, although experts say they are often treated more as cultural relics than as religions. Although religious freedom is written into the nation's constitution, a 2010 report from the U.S. State Department maintains that, in practice, "genuine religious freedom does not exist."

What comments like these say about militant atheism:

"The article states "Pray especially for the brave Christians inside North Korea". I don't believe in prayer but to say pray "ESPECIALLY for brave Christians­" is GROSS. If you are going to pray then pray for all the people."

"I am a social commentato­r and no I'm not going to take my ball and go home. When Christians quit trying to push Creationis­m as science and their ungodly Godly beliefs into politics then perhaps they wouldn't gross me out."

"Why is this questions posed as North Korea "persecuti­ng Christians­?"

The North Korean Tyrant is an equal opportunit­y persecutor of religion. Tao, Buddhist, Muslim, Falun Gong, Christian, they are all "enemies of the state."

I am always amazed at Christian groups who complain about persecutio ­n in foreign lands. Sometimes they seem to think only their persecutio­n is notable.

Yes, persecutio ­n of Christians is bad, but it is "religion" that is seen as the enemy in many tyrannical states including China and North Korea.

If a group stands up against the persecutio ­n of their own members, and ignores the suffering of others, they are complicit in accepting tyrannical persecutio­n."

There are more stupid comments you can sift through. In them, we have the usual moral equivalence ("but it is religion that is seen as the enemy..."), the bashing of Christians (pick a sentence), the ridiculous paranoid assertions that Christians are forcing their beliefs on others, particularly anti-science beliefs ("When Christians quit trying to push...." blahblahblah), the self-importance ("I am a social commentator..."  Good for you.) and the equally ridiculous assumptions that Christians care only about themselves ("...they are complicit..." ect.). It's all right there. Re-read it if you want. I like how NONE of the comment-writers live in Third World dictatorships but certainly benefit from living in liberal democratic societies in which Judeo-Christian ethics and Western values were the primary framers.




And for your information, cowards who hide behind a keyboard, Christians have been feeding, clothing and educating non-Christians for centuries. Who do you think built hospitals and schools (science resides in their walls)? Who do you think runs them? They've been praying for Christians and non-Christians alike. Who do you think puts up with your total pig crap and vitriol with an inhuman patience? And why shouldn't Christians back their own? Are you going to do that? Of course not. Your principles end where your immense cowardice and spite begin.



It's really the same-old, same-old.



Here's something to fry the heathen masses:

A new study suggests that one of Christianity's most prized but mysterious relics - the Turin Shroud - is not a medieval forgery and could be the burial robe of Christ.

Italian scientists conducted a series of experiments that they said showed that the marks on the shroud - purportedly left by the imprint of Christ's body - could not have been faked with technology that was available in medieval times....

"The double image (front and back) of a scourged and crucified man, barely visible on the linen cloth of the Shroud of Turin, has many physical and chemical characteristics that are so particular that the staining Ö is impossible to obtain in a laboratory," concluded experts from Italy's National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development.

The scientists set out to "identify the physical and chemical processes capable of generating a colour similar to that of the image on the shroud". They concluded that the shade, texture and depth of the imprints on the cloth could be produced only with the aid of ultraviolet lasers producing extremely brief pulses of light.

They said the image of the bearded man must therefore have been created by "some form of electromagnetic energy (such as a flash of light at short wavelength)".

Although they stopped short of offering a non-scientific explanation for the phenomenon, their findings will be embraced by those who believe that the marks on the shroud were miraculously created at the moment of Christ's Resurrection.

"We are not at the conclusion. We are composing pieces of a fascinating and complex scientific puzzle," the team reported.

Oh look- someone's popularity spiked without her trying.



And now, a Santa Dalek.



Merry Christmas (in case I forget!)

An Open Letter from Japan to North Korea

Dear North Korea,



After going through our fifth bottle of Piper-Heidsieck Rare....



What? Why were we drinking champagne? No reason. It's Friday. We mean- who doesn't crack open a bottle of champagne? You know....



Anyway, we came across this on the Interwebs:

North Korea has accused South Korea of an "intolerable" response to Kim Jong-Il's death, a blast that came as diplomats at the United Nations held a mass boycott of a tribute to the late leader.

Now, now. That was a bit harsh. If you try to- as your obese svelte leader once put it - turn a country into "a sea of fire", no one is going to thank you.



And then there was that little kidnapping thing a while ago.

You haven't seen Megumi Yokota, have you?

Anyway, there's been some friction and you have to be honest and admit that you've had a part in that. Airplanes and Pohang-class corvettes don't just blow up on their own.



Anyway, there's a conga line forming and we heard something about a celebratory luau with "North Korean pig" on the menu. Office rumours and such.


Have a merry Christmas.



Yours',


Japan

An Open Letter from South Korea to North Korea

Dear North Korea (soon to be just the northern half of our country as it was before we were separated by the Americans and the Soviets),



We're sorry our response to the death of that fat piece of dung your Dear Leader was found to be wanting. It's just that when you invade us, go to war with us with China and Russia's help, spy on us, kidnap both our and Japanese citizens (I think they'll be writing to you about this soon), kill 115 passengers on one of our airplanes, sink the Cheonan, killing  forty-six sailors, and then deny it, shell one of our cities, killing a total of four people and leaving many homeless, AND threaten to turn our country into "a sea of fire"....  Well, you can understand why we truly could not care about that guy you just stuffed in a glass case and made people wail in front of. Seriously. It's going to be Christmas in a couple of days.....




Oh wait! You guys don't celebrate Christmas! You don't have the freedom to worship... except whichever Kim is not yet dead. OH! Sucks to be you! Well, we have the right of free worship. It's pretty cool, actually.



Anyway, we'll leave you to "grieve".



We'll be dreaming of a White-esque Christmas,



South Korea

Mmmm... frosting... tastes so... freedom-y.....

Christmas Week: Decking the Halls

With all manner of things.



The UN has had several moments of silence on the Kim dynasty's reign of terror since 1950. I suppose they thought one minute more wouldn't hurt:

The UN General Assembly granted a request from North Korea and held a few moments of silence Thursday for Kim Jong-il, the country’s former leader who died Saturday, though Western delegations boycotted it.

We ducked out which I'm sure disgraced us in front of Iran, China and the rest of the world.




Related: when one offers a very tame criticism of a recently deceased monster of a man, it MUST be nuanced.



(hat tip)



And now, the ninth day of Cutemas. 



(yes- Cutemas)




Also: gingerbread yoga poses to burn off that feasting fat!

Christmas Week: In the Bleak Mid-Week Post

...frosty wind made moan....



Sorry.


It appears that Kim Jong-Eun, the late fat SOB Kim's heir apparent, will share power with the military, the shared nature of which leaves any number of unknown and frightening variables:

North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un, who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after World War Two.

The source declined to be identified but has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the North's first nuclear test in 2006 before it took place.

The comments are the first signal that North Korea is following a course that many analysts have anticipated -- it will be governed by a group of people for the first time since it was founded in 1948.

Now, which one will lead a coup, which one will be more loyal to his uncle, Jang, and which one will insist on nuking Japan?




Screw you, China. Look after your own vassal state:

China, which may have received advanced notice of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, has moved swiftly to call on the United States and other countries to help maintain stability in the reclusive state, officials and news reports said.

Related: are we obligated to defend Korea again?




As I explained to similarly retarded people, Stephen Harper and his equally democratically elected government are as alike to deceased tyrant Kim Jong-Il as... two things that are really, really different from one another. I'm just to baffled why people are so stupid.




One group of people builds schools. Another burns them down. Guess which group.



And now,  the holly, the ivy... and the hedgehog...

An Open Letter to The Communist Party of Canada

It should be the North Koreans writing this but they are too busy pretending to care that some fat b@$+@rd has finally kicked the bucket.


But some people apparently do care:



“The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) is deeply saddened to inform you of the untimely death of Kim Jong Il, leader of the Korean people and General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army.

On this occasion, Comrade Sandra L. Smith, First Secretary of the Central Committee of CPC(M-L) sent a letter to the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea expressing the deepest condolences of the Party and its members. CPC(M-L) also extends deepest condolences to his successor Kim Jong Un, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and now the Supreme Leader of the Korean People.

The death of the leader of the Korean people, Comrade Kim Jong Il, is a great loss to the Korean nation to whom he dedicated his life and work. To fullfil the striving of the Korean people to control their own destiny, he worked tirelessly for Korean reunification and to achieve the prosperity of the DPRK. His death comes at a time when the DPRK is achieving important economic developments to improve the people’s well-being and standard of living. The untimely passing of Kim Jong Il is also a great loss to the world anti-imperialist and democratic forces and the world communist movement in which the role of the DPRK to uphold principle and oppose preparations for imperialist war has been decisive to ensure peace in the region.”



 What can I say?



You people are the limit. You not only fail to see how communism is a political, economic and moral failure, you have completely overlooked the atrocities this man for whom you now mourn is responsible. Your sorrow is born of idiocy and total lack of empathy for the human condition.


Where does one begin?



Could we talk about....



The cult of personality that saved the masses from respecting a true leader who rules through charisma, sound policies and fairness rather than fear (something that has served your other heroes quite well):

In the wake of Kim Jong Il’s recent death, the oppressed people of North Korea are faced with a rare, extraordinary opportunity to break free from the chains of communist slavery, and from the cult-like regime built on the grand delusions of a megalomaniac.

Kim Jong Il’s reign was a bizarre, hypocritical, Stalinistic empire. An estimated 20,000 political prisoners languished in re-education camps, and children starved in out-of-sight areas while the communist dictator annually imported $650,000 worth of Hennessy’s finest Cognac, and flew in chefs from Tokyo and Italy. His regime was a cardboard, papier-mâché empire that only allowed the free world an extremely limited glimpse of staged city areas of Pyongyang, the forbidden city, while the rest of the country was rumored to be in poverty and ruins.

The racism that sprung from the Dear Leader's Juche philosophy:

Nationalism, especially this kind of race-based nationalism which we see so little of in the rest of the world these days, is, psychologically speaking, an enormously appealing doctrine. It is just as well suited to good economic times as to bad ones, because when things go well you can say it's because your race is so great, and when things go badly you can blame them on foreigners. This worldview gives every North Korean citizen a role to play in this sacred racial mission of kicking the Yankees out of South Korea and reunifying the peninsula.  ....


That's what they believe. Because the Korean people are racially, inherently good, it follows that the South Korean people are born just as good as the North Korean people are. But the North Korean propaganda apparatus makes a lot of the contaminating influence of the American presence in South Korea, the contaminating influence of American morals. The media in Pyongyang is also very critical of intermarriage between South Korean citizens and foreigners, especially between South Koreans and Americans. The North Koreans believe that South Koreans' racial purity is in danger.

The bombing of Korean Air 858 which killed 115 people.




The sinking of the Cheonan.

The shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

The kidnapping of Japanese nationals.

Where is Megumi?

And who could forget the mass starvation?

This young woman starved to death.



The concentration camps.

In the remote north-eastern corner of North Korea, close to the border of Russia and China, is Haengyong. Hidden away in the mountains, this remote town is home to Camp 22 - North Korea's largest concentration camp, where thousands of men, women and children accused of political crimes are held. 

Now, it is claimed, it is also where thousands die each year and where prison guards stamp on the necks of babies born to prisoners to kill them.

The butchery and persecution of Christians.



The sexual enslavement of women.




This is Kim Jong-Il's legacy. This was his "life's work" as you put it. Abject poverty. Starvation. Brain-washing. Concentration camps. Terrorism. Violence. I fail to see how the lot of his people was ever improved. He did have money in various bank accounts in the event he ever needed to flee (but why would he need to do that?). All he worked for was aggrandising his ego and his figure.


That you would defend this piece of excrement is not too unexpected as you cannot see how Stalin or Pol Pot were similarly evil, as well. However, none of it is excusable.


If you feel so strongly about Kim Jong-Il's brave vision for North Korea, do emigrate there. Stay there. Roll up your sleeves and work along side the starving masses who have no contact or idea of the outside world. Drop a line (if you can).


Let me know how it works out.


Sincerely disgusted,


Me


(Kamsahamnida)

Christmas Week: The War on Christmas

Before I begin, let me extend Hanukkah greetings to all.



Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.


And now the war on Christmas.

Yes, there IS a war on Christmas because I cannot remember the ACLU or any other group desperately trying to can Ramadan or Buddha's birthday.



Read this little gem:

There was a so-called “war on Christmas” long before Bill O'Reilly and friends went mainstream with it a few years ago. I should know. I worked in the ACLU’s Philadelphia office in the mid-1990’s, and it was my job to open the hate mail. Most of it arrived during the month of December in the form of Christmas cards. Nice picture of Mary and the Baby Jesus on the cover. Scrawled scathing message encouraging us to burn in hell or die painfully on the inside. Joy to the world, indeed.....


Except for the children, it was a familiar scene. All sorts of folks dropped in on our office from time to time, seeking help. Frank would listen patiently to every word of their stories before he would purposefully explain, in his Jim-Ignatowski-meets-Grandpa-Simpson manner, that the ACLU does not handle such cases and refer them to an agency that did. Sometimes they’d get angry, but Frank took the verbal abuse stoically, patiently listening again before restating his position. And listening. And restating. Eventually they’d move on.

But this family was different. From what I was overhearing, this was clearly not a situation the ACLU could help with in an official capacity. But Frank didn’t give him the speech. He kept listening. He kept asking questions. The children got antsier and louder as the conversation continued. Some of us came into the waiting area and tried to keep them entertained with whatever random toys we had on our desks. Stress balls. A Marge Simpson doll. Finally, their dad gave them the go-ahead to open the stockings, and merry chaos broke out.

In the midst of all that, our Legal Director and chief crèche-buster came blustering out of his office on some unrelated matter. He asked Frank what was going on, and Frank discreetly explained. This family had nowhere to sleep tonight. They’d been staying with a friend of the dad, but they couldn’t go back there now. The friend molested the little girl. The lawyer’s tone shifted in a way I’d never heard before, from busy and important to sincere kindness and concern. He invited the young dad into his office.

Which left the babysitting to the rest of us. But no one seemed to mind. Children rarely made an appearance in our office, and they lightened the mood considerably. They pulled crayons and containers of Play Doh from their stockings, and we all got creative together. We made up games and let them run up and down the long hallway.

The meeting went on for most of an hour. Our Legal Director was on and off the phone, networking with his colleagues in social services, tracking down a place for this family to stay. Finally, he was able to line something up. We helped the children gather up their stockings, got them into their coats, and off they went into the Philadelphia winter dusk. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I picked the squished Play Doh bits from our waiting-room carpet. Sweet little girl. Who knew what was going to happen to her? It broke my heart just to think about it. But at least she had somewhere safe to go on Christmas Eve.

The “Very Special Christmas Episode” message here is probably pretty obvious, but it bears repeating: The ACLU may have caused the relocation of a few plaster Mary-and-Josephs that year. But an ACLU lawyer also found this real-life unfortunate family some room at the Inn. And with all due respect to Mr. Schulz, I’d like to suggest that that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Oh, that's nice. Would you like a medal? You see, churches do that sort of stuff ALL the time. That's part of what they are there for. While this essay paints a nice little picture of secular humanists cornering the market on kindness it neatly omits the energy it takes to go after churches and their adjoining groups because symbols of their faith bother these "brave souls" who "thrive" on liberty.


Churches and other groups do not randomly put up Nativity scenes. They must first obtain permission and they must be privately donated or sponsored. Even legal opinion backs them up:

The ACLU claimed the city of Cranston, R.I., erected religious displays along with secular displays in violation of the so-called "separation of church and state."...

In his opinion, Judge William Smith wrote that nothing in the city’s public statements or in its implementation of the policy for its Christmas displays "reveals or even remotely supports an inference that a religious purpose was behind the creation of the limited public forum," as the lawsuit alleged. 

The case centered on Cranston's 2003 opening of its city hall front lawn to private "seasonal and holiday displays," which resulted in various citizens making contributions, both religious and secular. 

The city clearly posted disclaimers stating, "The public displays are strictly from private citizens or groups. They in no way represent an official view of the City of Cranston, nor are they endorsed by the city."

So the ACLU- the knights errand for American liberty- were offended by both sectarian AND secular Christmas displays? Imagine if that fervour had gone into- oh- banning the burqa or stopping forced marriages instead of trying to quash images of jolly Old Saint Nick.

 

Maybe the ACLU should just sit down some time and re-watch (or watch) "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Listen to Linus as he quotes the Gospel according to Saint Luke. Imagine no room at the inn. Imagine the people who work tirelessly to provide whatever aid they can and then imagine someone telling them the symbols of the very faith that motivate their charity are too noxious to be seen. Imagine the strength it takes to fight back against that boorish censorship. Or imagine the great spiritual strength it takes to shrug it off and continue with their thankless work.

 

 

THAT'S what Christmas is all about.

 

Christmas Week: The Attack of the Killer Christmas Trees

"Oh my God, Akira! RUN!"

Look closely. A monster lurks within.

Bad cat!

Moving on....



Good news!  Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha is up for canonisation. No word if Theresa Spence with launch an injunction.

The Vatican has cleared the way for the canonization of 7 new saints, including Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Marianne Cope. 

On December 19, Pope Benedict XVI approved a series of decrees by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, advancing a number of candidates toward canonization or beatification. 

In 7 cases, involving candidates who have already been beatified, the decrees testified to the authenticity of a miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession. This fulfills the requirements for canonization in these cases. They include two American women. 

1. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), the “Lilly of the Mohawks,” was born in upstate New York and lived both there and in Canada. Baptized by Jesuit missionaries on Easter Sunday in 1676, she died in Quebec 4 years later. Her reputation for sanctity spread quickly, and in 1980 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II. She was the first Native American to be beatified, and will be the first canonized.

This aboriginal voice has a direct line to God.

You know- when the steam has gone out of something, huffing and puffing won't bring it back. "Occupy Niagara" has an abysmal showing.



Sean Penn proves how classy he is by calling a woman- his "Colors" co-star, Maria Conchito Alonso- "a pig":

Alonso says the conversation escalated when Penn accused Alonso’s brother of attempting to assassinate Chavez, which Alonso says is not true.

“So I’m like, ‘You are in favor of Hugo Chavez and [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad.’  Because I also saw a picture of footage from TV where Chavez and Ahmadinejad are together and Sean Penn is next to them.  And, you know, he‘s like ’I’ve never said that about Ahmadinejad.  You’re a pig.’  And I go to him, ‘And you are a communist, Sean Penn!’”

Someone has him pegged.



If you love Chavez so much, Sean Penn, do marry him.



 It doesn't pay to ban Baby Jesus before Christmas:

The battle over a nativity scene in Athens, Texas, reached new heights this weekend when up to 5,000 supporters flooded the town square. Their purpose? To stand firmly opposed to the attacks a prominent atheist group has waged on the religious display.

As the Blaze reported earlier this month, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that frequently targets the presence of faith and religion in the public square, is demanding that a nativity scene be removed from public property.

And now, let us descend on the Christmas season with the help of "Jingle Bark" dogs.

Just Desserts

Kim Jong-Il is dead.



The second in a dynastic communist dictatorship died December 17th of a heart attack while en route to "give guidance". I imagine had he eaten a traditional Korean diet he instead of the rich, fatty foods he deprived his people of, he might have survived. Consider that rations for the North Koreans and their dying children were reduced to 200 grams a day. That's 2 cups of food (perhaps rice, corn or millet). How do you have two fat leaders in a country that is starving?



Russia and China- part of the reason why there are TWO Koreas to begin with- have offered their condolences and the West naively believes that the new regime will alleviate the suffering of the North Koreans, something the scholars of this region call a "fat chance" (insert own Kim Jong-Il fat joke here). For Canada's non-expression of grief for this loathsome man brings out the usual retards:

"I am touched by the amount of North Koreans who are mourning Kin Jong Il's death. Even I cried when seeing how much these people truly loved their leader, hundreds and thousands of people crying and mourning together, even children were crying! Good luck to North Korea, perhaps Kim Jong Un will bring in some fresh energy and ideas to help the area open up to the rest of the world to even further benefit it's people. Remember, it's not the power you have, it's what you do with it and being responsible that matters."


"Here is the difference. All of North Korea is morning their leaders death, right or wrong. In Canada only the wealthiest would bat an eye if Harper died. It would be because they would have to find a new ... man. Most of this country would rejoice."

(Sidebar: I wouldn't rejoice in the PM's death or find it a relief, retard, because whatever our democratically elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper may or may not be, he is NOWHERE near the evil Kim Jong-Il was. That you are able to attribute freely qualities that just aren't there in a democratically elected leader and a liberal democracy AND belt it out should be a sign that you don't live in a Third World dictatorship like North Korea. It is obvious your critical thinking and moral discernment skills are non-existent. You and the previously quoted retard should go bowling. On second hand, don't. I don't trust you with heavy sports equipment.)



Moving on....


Now begins the guessing game.



His son, Kim Jong-Eun, the third in this dynasty and of whom little is known save his grooming, is presumed to be the successor. However, the younger Kim does not have the complete support of the people or the military. It is also believed that he may be challenged by his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who is rumoured to have been helming North Korea to some extent.

It is also believed the younger Kim may start a crisis to prove his military worth:

Seoul and Washington will worry that Kim Jong Un "may feel it necessary in the future to precipitate a crisis to prove his mettle to other senior leaders," according to Bruce Klingner, an Asia analyst at The Heritage Foundation think-tank in Washington.

North Korea conducted at least one short-range missile test Monday, a South Korean official said. But South Korea's military sees the firing as part of a scheduled routine drill, instead of a provocation, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a policy that bans commenting on intelligence matters.

Konstantin Makienko, deputy director of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, however, told the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti that the test "undoubtedly is connected to the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Its goal is to show the world that ... the armed forces of this country now are completely battle-ready and will react to any development."

North Korea's role as a buffer state for China is at risk, as well:

Protecting stability on China's 1,415-km (880-mile) frontier with the North and throughout the region will be paramount, particularly with Beijing's leaders grappling with their own attention-consuming succession from late next year, when President Hu Jintao steps down as Communist Party chief.

"This has really come out of the blue. It's not like it had been rumored for a while giving everyone time to properly prepare," said Cai Jian, an expert on Korean affairs at Fudan University in Shanghai.

"China's biggest worry will be over North Korea's stability, and China's aim will be to ensure the country remains stable," said Cai. "I think security will be stepped up in North Korea, and China is also likely to tighten security along the border."

It is naive to believe that China ever had North Korea's peace and prosperity at heart. How could a nation as poor as North Korea survive without so powerful a benefactor? Had China not been backing North Korea, there would be only one Korea today (insert own Highlander joke here). If, however, China does get a stable North Korea (big IF), one might see a new global sweatshop.



One focus of North Korea's rage is Japan. If I were you,  Japan, I would start nuclearisation. Put the bad memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki behind you, Japan. The rest of you is at stake.



South Korea, in my opinion, has not prepared for what may come. Granted it has helped North Korean defectors to some extent, it must prepare for possible reunification or renewed friction. Should a military or humanitarian (invariably a humanitarian crisis) crisis erupt, how much help does South Korea think the US will be? As I suggested for Japan, start nuclearisation.



One thing is for certain, the lot of the North Korean people will not change. The exaggerated grief for a man whose iron fist is the reason why they are a Third World country gives one a good idea of how brain-washed - and fearful- the nation of North Korea is.



A fitting tribute.



And because it is expected, "Team America".







(Kamsahamnida)

Just In...

Kim Jong-Il is dead.

More later.

Christmas Week: The Tinselling

With all that's been going on, I nearly forgot to extol the wonderful virtues of Christmas! How could I have been so thoughtless?



I'll make up for it now.



Do take the time to respond to the poll. For my money, it's "A Charlie Brown Christmas". When Linus reads from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, I get giddy with joy.







And who could forget that tree?



And now Christmas.



From the first century writer Josephus:

NOW Cyrenius, a Roman senator, and one who had gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into Syria, with a few others, being sent by Caesar to he a judge of that nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme power over the Jews. Moreover, Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their substance, and to dispose of Archelaus's money; but the Jews, although at the beginning they took the report of a taxation heinously, yet did they leave off any further opposition to it, ....

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, (9) those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; (10) as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. 

As the accounts from the Bible state:

"Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. ² This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."



^"8 Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he entered into the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate *said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”"

So now that I've established that Jesus existed, we can dispense with the nonsense that He didn't and talk about Christmas at leisure.  As El Barto is wont to say: 

The Historical Jesus can be explained this way....

Massive religious followings don't appear *SUDDENLY* around and about men who didn't exist. THe Romans recorded the existence of Christians since day one. Proof of Historical Jesus established.

Now, why DO we celebrate Christmas?



For Christians, the Birth of Christ heralds His ultimate purpose: to re-establish by dying and rising from the dead what went wrong from the beginning- the start of Original Sin. No one wants to hear that not only could there be one supreme being running things but that as human beings we are flawed. Well- it's true. Deal with it. This shouldn't be a reason for despair as there is a way to resolve the errant nature of humanity through Christ Himself. The season of Christmas engenders more than Christ's future purpose. The season of Christmas brings with it an innate sense of cheer and goodness not seen throughout the year. We know we are on the verge of something good happening. We anticipate the feasts. We prepare things that remind us that- at least one day of the year- we should be completely happy.


***



Moving on....



This article highlights the use of North Korean slave labour in Russia. Not uncommon knowledge in some circles. Check out part five of the video series. (NSFW, as they say)




Also, North Korean defection, escape and cowardice.



(thumbs up)



Christopher Hitchens has finally discovered there IS a God after passing away this past week. His finer moment can be seen here.



Apparently, "An Open Letter from Canada to China" was mentioned on an Occupy Toronto Facebook page by a guy named David Notlib. Thanks for spreading the good word, David.

Some Thoughts for a Thursday

Just a few things to ruminate.



Christian Bale gets roughed when trying to visit Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng:

Bale, who plays crime-fighting superhero Batman, and the camera crew from CNN were jostled by men in plainclothes from Dongshigu village in eastern Shandong province, where activist Chen Guangcheng has been under house arrest for 15 months, according to a video released by CNN on its website.

"Why can I not visit this man?" Bale asked several security officers, while they were pushing him.

"You know, I'm not being brave doing this," Bale told CNN. "The local people who are standing up to the authorities and insisting on going to visit Chen and his family and getting beaten up for it, and my understanding, getting detained for it and everything. I want to support what they are doing."

CNN said the guards followed the network's van for more than half an hour.

The fate of Chen, a charismatic, self-schooled advocate who has campaigned against forced abortions, has become a test of wills, pitting the ruling Communist Party's crackdown on dissent against rights activists who have rallied around his cause and that of artist Ai Weiwei.

In recent months, dozens of supporters have been blocked from visiting Chen. Many of them were beaten by men in plain clothes.

 Where is the douchebag Hollywood community? 





If Karla Homolka and the Caledonia thugs get a pass and Linda Gibbons doesn't, we have a very good idea of how rotten the Canadian justice system is.





Watch this:









Dan Baker has shot himself and his movement in the foot. Not only does he refuse to recognise the beliefs of others and the freedom from outside interference, he gets wrong the meaning of Christ's Birth and why we celebrate it. He even goes so far as to say outright (not suggest) that atheists and agnostics are somehow second-class citizens and "must keep their heads down", utter rot in so many respects. This invective, disguised as libertarian concern,  has summed up the errors of secular humanism. His presumption, arrogance and bitterness do not speak for anyone save the truly lost and angry.



Because he's Ibn Warraq:

Most important, Ibn Warraq  describes the “mind-set” of most Muslims as intolerant, self-pitying, stagnant, and trained to blame others for their own failures. He also sees the Muslim “mind-set” as akin to that of people trapped in totalitarian regimes. The need to control thought and to sacrifice individuality characterizes both Islamic and Marxist regimes. Thus, we understand the affinity that Western “leftists” have with reactionary Islamists. Ibn Warraq contrasts this with a Western “mind-set” which is built upon Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, scientific, and Enlightenment foundations and is characterized by intellectual curiosity, genuine interest in the “other,” a sense of irony, the ability to engage in self-criticism, and a concern with finding the truth.

Let's keep this in mind when someone makes outlandish claims of human rights abuses or draws parallels to the Holocaust or expects a reprisal that will never come. 





Did someone tell them this was the Lady of FATIMA?



Just a reminder that someone doesn't like Sun TV News' coverage of the proposed mind-rape of Ontario elementary school students. 






(Bolsheye spasiba)








If Santa Claus has it in him, he should sort this brat out.

Mid-Week Post

You're mentioned in the third paragraph.


What's in the news?


Just like Daddy. Keep it classy.



Abolish teachers' unions:

A major wing of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) is calling on the union to ensure teachers at Catholic schools who are in homosexual relationships are eligible for hiring and promotion despite their dissent to the Church’s prohibition of homosexual relations.  The Toronto OECTA group is also calling for the union to formally endorse gay-straight clubs. 


On November 24th, OECTA’s Toronto Secondary Unit (TSU) passed resolutions to make these two proposals at the controversial union’s annual general meeting in March.

The votes come at the same time as OECTA has openly celebrated its partnership with homosexual lobby group Egale in a statement praising a new bill by Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals cracking down on homosexual bullying.

This has nothing to do with bullying. This has nothing to do with job security. This has to with a special-interest group scratching the back of a corrupt teachers' union. And this is what I have to say about misrepresentation (re-posted):

In a nutshell, no organisation should be so powerful that it is accountable to no one, as teachers' unions clearly are. Either abolish them or declaw them so that they cannot make blanket declarations or take funds from teachers in order to support pet causes. Secondly, any teacher working in the Catholic school system should be a practising Catholic, not a nominal one. How dare someone lie to the faces of students and their parents in saying they adhere to the Faith when they do not and THEN take a salary for it. That's lying and theft. Thirdly, a school is for learning, not for special-interest groups to use students as social or political experiments. If kids don't know how to spell, do basic math or read a map but can sputter out some tired old leftist tirade, we have a problem. The teachers should be doing their jobs without the arrogance, presumption and interference of what was described in the article above.

In Belgium, a gunman killed a cleaning lady and four people while they were Christmas shopping.



Watch as a white liberal feminist professor defends the Islamic misogynist practice of making women wear burqas while a Muslim decries such a horrid practice.







What is being defended isn't religion or culture but the right of a backward belief to flourish in the face of Western values. Tell this professor to wear a potato sack over her head under penalty of dismissal and see how strongly she believes in the burqa then.



Apartheid is alright when some people do it.


Political correctness isn't about doing what is right, fair or even pragmatic. It is about deciding who on the totem pole of humanity we can offend the most or the least. In a just world, the removal of people from census rolls because they do not meet the sufficient requirement for racial purity would be decried.


From the horse:

“The tribe has historically had the ability to remove people. Tolerance is a European thing brought to the country. We never tolerated things. We turned our back on people.”

Who is the bigot and oppressor now?



Did you know....?

When does learning begin? As I explain in the talk I gave at TED, learning starts much earlier than many of us would have imagined: in the womb....


What it all adds up to is this: much of what a pregnant woman encounters in her daily life — the air she breathes, the food and drink she consumes, the chemicals she’s exposed to, even the emotions she feels — are shared in some fashion with her fetus.

They make up a mix of influences as individual and idiosyncratic as the woman herself. The fetus treats these maternal contributions as information, as what I like to call biological postcards from the world outside.


By attending to such messages, the fetus learns the answers to questions critical to its survival: Will it be born into a world of abundance, or scarcity? Will it be safe and protected, or will it face constant dangers and threats? Will it live a long, fruitful life, or a short, harried one?

The pregnant woman’s diet and stress level, in particular, provide important clues to prevailing conditions, a finger lifted to the wind. The resulting tuning and tweaking of the fetus’s brain and other organs are part of what give humans their enormous flexibility, their ability to thrive in environments as varied as the snow-swept tundra in Siberia and the golden-grassed savanna in Africa.

The recognition that learning actually begins before birth leads us to a striking new conception of the fetus, the pregnant woman and the relationship between them.

The fetus, we now know, is not an inert blob, but an active and dynamic creature, responding and adapting as it readies itself for life in the particular world it will soon enter. The pregnant woman is neither a passive incubator nor a source of always-imminent harm to her fetus, but a powerful and often positive influence on her child even before it’s born. And pregnancy is not a nine-month wait for the big event of birth, but a crucial period unto itself — “a staging period for well-being and disease in later life,” as one scientist puts it.

This crucial period has become a promising new target for prevention, raising hopes of conquering public health scourges like obesity and heart disease by intervening before birth. By “teaching” fetuses the appropriate lessons while they’re still in utero, we could potentially end vicious cycles of poverty, infirmity and illness and initiate virtuous cycles of health, strength and stability.

Utterly fascinating. I hope certain parties are paying attention to this.



If this took place in Attawapiskat, you could milk it for all it's worth.



Children were found beaten and neglected at an Islamic monastery. Why aren't we cutting off Pakistan today?



What a pathetic low-life:

After a lengthy and withering cross-examination during which he was accused of conspiring with his family to fabricate alibis, a surviving son of a couple accused of killing three of their daughters finished his court testimony by asking for a hug.

The son of the Montreal couple, who are accused along with their other son of committing so-called honour killings, testified this week for the defence at the Shafia family murder trial and was subject to more than a full day of cross-examination.

Crown attorney Gerard Laarhuis suggested that the son, who can't be named due to a court order, has lied to and manipulated authority figures in the past and may not have been telling the truth on the stand, saying his memory seems to be selectively improving to recall only details that help his parents and brother.

Tooba Yahya, 42, and her husband Mohammad Shafia, 58, are charged alongside their eldest son, Hamed, 20, with four counts of first-degree murder. They have each pleaded not guilty.

They're accused of killing Shafia sisters, Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's other wife in a polygamous marriage, over family honour.

At the end of the surviving son's third day on the stand, defence lawyer Peter Kemp, who called the him to testify, re-examined him Wednesday morning. Though much was suggested by Laarhuis, it was the son who raised a suggestion that he was involved in the actual deaths.

"You've been cross-examined quite extensively by Mr. Laarhuis with respect to a conspiracy or an agreement to fabricate evidence or make up evidence ... to help your parents and your brother," Kemp said. "What do you have to say about that?"

"That we helped in the murders, is that right?" the son said. He and the rest of his family maintain the deaths were an accident, a late-night joy ride turned tragic.

Moments later, after the judge told him he could step down, the son turned to Judge Robert Maranger and asked if he could have permission to hug his parents goodbye.

Laarhuis referenced ongoing discussions about the matter, and said, "Now's not the time," causing the mother to burst into tears in the prisoner's box.

Because after helping  your family kill and cover up the murder of your female relatives, you need a hug.



(Muchas gracias)



And now, six things wrong with "Voyager":

Really though, the show’s inconsistent cast of characters is a side effect of a much larger problem, and it’s this: They never really knew what to do with their premise. It’s actually a really good premise, one which could have revitalized the entire Star Trek universe by standing it on its head. A by the numbers Starfleet vessel is stranded so far away from home it’ll take them seventy years to get back. They don’t have any resources, they don’t know where they are, and when half their crew is killed they’re forced to replace them with bunch of rebellious, borderline space-pirates and make them their bunkmates. How does Voyager respond to this predicament? They decide to pretend they’re still in Starfleet and keep doing everything by the book. 


Oh and those rebel marauders the Maquis? By episode two they’re virtually indistinguishable from every other Starfleet officer on the ship. They put on the uniform, follow the rules, and aside from the occasional plotline involving the holodeck, the differences between them and the actual Starfleet crew are almost never mentioned again. The really frustrating thing about Voyager is that they used a show about a stranded ship in desperate circumstances to tell stories that could have been told on almost any old episode of Star Trek. Rather than being a staple of the stories they chose to tell, the Voyager crew’s predicament is more like a sidebar that the show’s writers stop to revisit whenever they don’t seem to have anything better to do.

Oh snap!


But so right.


"Voyager" should have been darker and grittier, qualities that made "Year of Hell" and "Equinox" such good episodes. If one is trapped in the butt-end of space with very few resources, a virtual bull's eye pasted on one's back and a rag-tag bunch of casual terrorists among the crew, things shouldn't be so rosy, pristine and cut-and-dried. Instead of slogging around by the skin of one's teeth, there was the melodrama, the insufferable moral relativism of a benign fascist organisation and a ship that never appeared to be damaged or wanting in supplies it couldn't obtain easily.


The premise was good but somewhere in the Delta Quadrant, it lost it's way.