Don’t Look Now

Yet more stuff from the world of news.

A shooting in the Eaton Centre leaves one dead and several injured. 

Illegal gun. Calling it now.

The last time someone had a Diamond Jubilee,  the British Empire actually worked.

One Canadian kills and eats a Chinese national. It is horrifying to say the very least. The Canadian government doesn't send out warnings to its citizens that the Chinese eat dead fetus pills, do they?

A review of what is actually a love letter to Omar Khadr and some total horse crap about Canada being complicit in torture which just amounts to yet another reason why we should withdraw from the UN:

In a biting report issued Friday, the United Nations Committee Against Torture condemns what it calls Canadian "complicity" in torture and human rights violations of Muslim men caught up in the post-9/11 security net.

The committee's report condemns Canada's practice, during the Afghan combat mission which ended last year, of handing prisoners over to Afghan security forces despite a "substantial risk" that they would be tortured.

In addition, the UN committee:

    Recommends that Canada promptly approve the transfer of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo to Canadian custody.

    Urges Canada to pay compensation to three men who were the subjects of the Iacobucci Inquiry — Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin.

    Faults changes to Canada's immigration laws which it says may increase the risk of human rights violations.

In case one doubts the link between Iran and Nazism, take a good look at this.

I think this…

It’s actually quite simple. Catholic schools are Catholic. Not very these days, with the influence of an often anti-Catholic teachers’ union and the majority of teachers being Catholic only in name.

But the schools themselves are still supposed to be committed to Church teaching: Jesus is saviour, Virgin Mary, Papal authority, turning the other cheek, marriage between man and woman, and all that stuff. If you object, fine. Go to a public school.

What the schools are being told now is not to stop bullying (they already do) but to affirm homosexuality (which they can’t).

The alternative to a gay kid being bullied is not a gay-straight alliance but an end to bullying.

But then this isn’t about children being bullied and hasn’t been from the beginning.

It’s about government and activists bullying others into acceptance of homosexuality.

Whatever happened to genuine tolerance?

 …sums up this well.

(Gracias)

Hold on to your lunch:

All of that daily pouting and shouting can really wear on a soul, they say. And the best way to deal with it is to have a good cry.

One document published by Occupy Chicago, titled “Responding to Trauma in Protests and Mass Mobilizations: Supporting Yourself and Others to Cope with Traumatic Incidents,” begins:

“Factors that place us at greater risk for post-traumatic stress are having a history of abuse, not getting support that we need from our allies, and being separated from others, either during or following the action. Because abuse is pervasive in this culture, learning to heal from and integrate our traumatic experiences in action can empower us to live our lives more fully every day.”

Occupy Chicago explains the warning signs in another document titled, “Crisis Fact Sheet: 10 Ways to Recognize Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,”

    Feeling “emotionally numb.”

    Crying uncontrollably.

    Isolating oneself from family and friends and avoiding social situations.

    Relying increasingly on alcohol or drugs to get through the day.

    Feeling extremely moody, irritable, angry, suspicious or frightened.

    Feeling overwhelmed by what would normally be considered everyday situations and diminished interest in performing normal tasks or pursuing usual interests.

    Feeling guilty about surviving the event or being unable to solve the problem, change the event or prevent the disaster.

    Feeling fears and sense of doom about the future.

All of those pretty much describe the Occupy crowd. But the self-important audacity of Occupy shines through in another document, titled “Trauma and Healing. It calls for a healthy dose of self-pity and weeping to overcome the effects of PTSD.

There are people who truly suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. They have seen and/or experienced the worst humanity can dish out onto itself. Though their symptoms are psychological, sometimes they manifest themselves physically. They need help and support and, sadly, sometimes they don’t get it. Those people are truly suffering. That the Occupest douchebags would assume this condition for themselves just renders one speechless. 

And now, brass knuckles that can really do some damage.

Geologists claim to have found evidence that an earthquake did occur at Jesus’ Crucifixion:

Geologists say Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday, April 3, in the year 33.

The latest investigation, reported in International Geology Review, focused on earthquake activity at the Dead Sea, located 13 miles from Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, mentions that an earthquake coincided with the crucifixion:

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.”

To analyze earthquake activity in the region, geologist Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences studied three cores from the beach of the Ein Gedi Spa adjacent to the Dead Sea.

Varves, which are annual layers of deposition in the sediments, reveal that at least two major earthquakes affected the core: a widespread earthquake in 31 B.C. and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36.

The latter period occurred during “the years when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea and when the earthquake of the Gospel of Matthew is historically constrained,” Williams said.

"The day and date of the crucifixion (Good Friday) are known with a fair degree of precision," he said. But the year has been in question.

In terms of textual clues to the date of the crucifixion, Williams quoted a Nature paper authored by Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington. Williams summarized their work as follows:

    All four gospels and Tacitus in Annals (XV, 44) agree that the crucifixion occurred when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea from A.D. 26 to 36.

    All four gospels say the crucifixion occurred on a Friday.

    All four gospels agree that Jesus died a few hours before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath (nightfall on a Friday).

    The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) indicate that Jesus died before nightfall on the 14th day of Nisan, right before the start of the Passover meal.

    John’s gospel differs from the synoptics, apparently indicating that Jesus died before nightfall on the 15th day of Nisan.

When data about the Jewish calendar and astronomical calculations are factored in, a handful of possible dates result, with Friday, April 3, 33, being the best match, according to the researchers.

In terms of the earthquake data alone, Williams and his team acknowledge that the seismic activity associated with the crucifixion could refer to “an earthquake that occurred sometime before or after the crucifixion and was in effect ‘borrowed’ by the author of the Gospel of Matthew, and a local earthquake between 26 and 36 A.D. that was sufficiently energetic to deform the sediments of Ein Gedi but not energetic enough to produce a still extant and extra-biblical historical record.”

Who said romance is dead? Not this kitten.