Mid-Week Post

It’s the caramel centre of a chocolaty snack cake… but with words.

Quebec may eschew the more Anglophone strains in this country but sticking a thumb in the eye of a woman-hating culture hardly makes it intolerant:

Once again, Quebec has solidified its reputation as one of Canada's most culturally intolerant provinces.

La Belle Provence went through their "reasonable accommodation" debate a few years ago and enacted legislation which essentially restricted Muslim women from wearing a Niqab when working in the public sector or doing business with government officials.

Last year, the province's National Assembly unanimously voted to bar the Sikh kirpan from the legislative buildings. (The kirpan is accommodated across Canada, including in the House of Commons and the Supreme Court of Canada.)

Now the victim of the province's collective hard-line stance against cultural 'freedoms'  is a 9 year old girl who just wanted to play soccer.

Just days after soccer's international governing body -- FIFA -- allowed Muslim female players to wear headscarves during matches, a young Quebec girl was sent off the pitch in Gatineau for wearing a hijab.

According to PostMedia News , nine year old Rayane Benatti was told to take off her headscarf "for safety reasons, before her team played  the final match of a soccer tournament on Sunday. Benatti refused and, as a result, was forced to stand on the sidelines.

"It made me feel very sad," she said Monday. "I love soccer."

I bet little Rayane also likes not having acid thrown in her face.

This is what happens when a woman doesn’t cover up (an no amount of kow-towing column-writing will change it).

Now who’s intolerant?

Related: extreme intolerance toward dogs.

Speaking of intolerant…

A Pennsylvania man objects to discount:

Is it discrimination if a restaurant offers a discount to a certain group of people?

Well, it offended one Pennsylvania man after going to a family owned restaurant where they gave 10 percent off if you brought in a church bulletin. It left a bad taste in his mouth and it has since put the restaurant under a state discrimination investigation.  

We found two upstate restaurants that offer similar discounts, like 15 to 20 percent, if you bring in a church bulletin. An upstate atheist feels it's not necessary. 

"I think it's silly. I don't think you should get a discount just for going to church," said atheist Jessica Stewart.   

Several upstate restaurants feel they're not discriminating, considering they're offering other discounts throughout the week.  

"You can come and receive 10 percent off a regular menu item if you come between a certain time on Friday and Saturday. You can receive $7 off if you spend $35 or more," said Silver Bay Restaurant Manager Kathi Evert.    

"We are not just targeting the church crowd, we try to include everybody," said The Mason Jar Restaurant Manager Macy Southern.    

As of last Friday, the Pennsylvania restaurant was served with a 16-page complaint from the state of Pennsylvania accusing them of discrimination.  

I imagine it has never occurred to him to just not go there, or that a private business can do whatever the hell it likes. And militant atheists are the rational people, the voices of reason, the more cerebral among us? In this article, there is no evidence of it. Only some fool who wants to make trouble for a private business taking advantage of a market. I guess if you’re an insecure paranoid finger-wagging jackhole, nothing short of a good whine will do. Would this self-collected citizen complain if atheists got ten percent off?

Once again, militant atheists, one tine on the trident of post-modern fundamentalism, object to happiness especially if there is a tinge of God anywhere. Christmas, in a way, has come early for them.

The jittery nerves of an easily offended militant atheist- in dog form.

Who is Kim Jong-Eun’s mystery woman?

Who is she?

That's what people around the world want to know about a mysterious young woman who appeared with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a pair of events over the weekend.

The woman first appeared with Kim on North Korean state television on Sunday at a ceremony marking the 18th anniversary of his grandfather and North Korea founder Kim Il Sung's death. She is believed to be the same woman shown in a photograph released by the Korea News Service on Monday showing Kim and others clapping during a July 6 performance by new Moranbong band in Pyongyang. (The unusual performance included appearances by Disney characters—including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Winnie the Pooh—not often seen in North Korea, which traditionally shuns entertainment of the West.)

The mystery woman sparked a crush of media coverage in South Korea, where some speculate that she could be Kim's younger sister or wife. No official details about her identity have been released.

According to London's Telegraph, "South Korean intelligence sources" say the woman is Hyon Song Wol, a singer "who used to front the Bochonbo Electronic Music Band" and "responsible for a string of hits that included 'Footsteps of Soldiers,' 'I Love Pyongyang,' 'She is a Discharged Soldier' and 'We are Troops of the Party.'"

I guess corpulent dictators need companionship, too. His dad certainly did.

Stand up for your mum, Brad!

Jon Voight decided to do what Jane Pitt's son should have done:

Last week, Brad Pitt’s mother Jane Pitt hit headlines after penning a response letter-to-the-editor of her local newspaper, Missouri’s Springfield News Leader, in which she advocated support for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, referring to him as a “a family man with high morals, business experience, who is against abortion, and shares Christian conviction concerning homosexuality.” [...] 

However, it seems the backlash surrounding Jane’s opinion has become so vehement that she has reportedly been “scared into silence.”

According to WND, Mrs. Pitt has not only been the victim of vulgar and hate-filled attacks, but she has also received death threats which have left her very frightened. [...]

But Mrs. Pitt has at least one high-profile supporter on her daughter-in-law's side of the family: Jolie's dad Jon Voight!

“Good for her,” Voight told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column, adding that he agrees with the points-of-view expressed by Jane.

Celebrity Apartheid Week- it matters.

When scientists do street theatre:

Hundreds of people held a mock funeral on Parliament Hill to mourn what they call the death of evidence and the muzzling of scientists by the federal government.

Scientists and their supporters wore white lab coats or dressed in black and carried a wooden coffin that represented "the body of evidence" on to the steps of Parliament Hill. They carried signs with slogans and some wore buttons that said [Prime Minister] "Stephen Harper hates science."

"If we don't stand up for science, nobody will," Katie Gibbs, one of the rally's organizers, told the crowd. "After a long battle with the current federal government, evidence has suffered its final blow."

Cuts to federal science programs, legislative changes in the recent budget implementation bill and the muzzling of scientists all show the government's disregard for evidence, she said.

The elimination of the long form census, cuts to ozone monitoring, air and marine pollution as well as other environmental programs were given as examples of how the government has mounted "a systematic campaign to reduce the flow of scientific evidence to Canadians," the protesters said.

Several speakers delivered eulogies to mourn the loss of evidence, including one directed specifically at the planned closure of the Experimental Lakes Area.

Maude Barlow, national chair of the Council of Canadians, said scientists at the world-renowned research facility are doing too good a job of monitoring damage to fresh water and that the prime minister doesn't want Canadians to find out about it.

"What do you do if you want to kill the message? Well, just kill the messenger and that's what we're here today to mourn," she told the large crowd.

However:

"We are not complaining that there isn't enough money being spent on science," said [chemist David] Bryce, who agrees that the government has invested billions of dollars in science and technology.

The problem, he said, is that the NSERC has frozen two "very key" programs that affect thousands of scientists and help train young researchers and engineers.

"These two program don't cost a lot of money, but have a huge impact," Bryce said. "That's why we don't understand why they've been cut."

Get a private company to give you funding instead of making props.

Also:

The science-fiction-predicted future is almost here, at least where light-speed travel is concerned.

Two weeks ago, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced the likely discovery of the elusive "God particle," the Higgs boson. The announcement was met with a standing ovation and tears of joy.

"We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," said CERN director General Rolf Heuer. …

Scientists are hoping this discovery of the particle — still in the early stages of its confirmation — will unlock mysteries of the universe, including dark matter and light-speed travel.

Wheeeeee!

My other spaceship is a Sovereign-class vessel.

And now, cool down with a refreshing cup of hot tea. Enjoy.