Mid-Week Post

"Now it is time in the liturgical year when we DANCE!"

Pope Benedict XVI gave his last public address before his retirement:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I offer a warm and affectionate greeting to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors who have joined me for this, my last General Audience. Like Saint Paul, whose words we heard earlier, my heart is filled with thanksgiving to God who ever watches over his Church and her growth in faith and love, and I embrace all of you with joy and gratitude. During this Year of Faith, we have been called to renew our joyful trust in the Lord’s presence in our lives and in the life of the Church. I am personally grateful for his unfailing love and guidance in the eight years since I accepted his call to serve as the Successor of Peter. I am also deeply grateful for the understanding, support and prayers of so many of you, not only here in Rome, but also throughout the world. The decision I have made, after much prayer, is the fruit of a serene trust in God’s will and a deep love of Christ’s Church. I will continue to accompany the Church with my prayers, and I ask each of you to pray for me and for the new Pope. In union with Mary and all the saints, let us entrust ourselves in faith and hope to God, who continues to watch over our lives and to guide the journey of the Church and our world along the paths of history. I commend all of you, with great affection, to his loving care, asking him to strengthen you in the hope which opens our hearts to the fullness of life that he alone can give. To you and your families, I impart my blessing. Thank you! - See more at: http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-english-remarks-during-final-general-audienc#sthash.RENP9mLq.dpuf

During this Year of Faith, we have been called to renew our joyful trust in the Lord’s presence in our lives and in the life of the Church. I am personally grateful for his unfailing love and guidance in the eight years since I accepted his call to serve as the Successor of Peter. I am also deeply grateful for the understanding, support and prayers of so many of you, not only here in Rome, but also throughout the world. The decision I have made, after much prayer, is the fruit of a serene trust in God’s will and a deep love of Christ’s Church. I will continue to accompany the Church with my prayers, and I ask each of you to pray for me and for the new Pope. In union with Mary and all the saints, let us entrust ourselves in faith and hope to God, who continues to watch over our lives and to guide the journey of the Church and our world along the paths of history. I commend all of you, with great affection, to his loving care, asking him to strengthen you in the hope which opens our hearts to the fullness of life that he alone can give. To you and your families, I impart my blessing. Thank you!

Each pope serves a purpose for a certain time. Pope Benedict XVI got the ball rolling for the next pope.

See you at Easter.


Unelected judges do this:

The court struck out some strange language in the law, which bans speech that “ridicules, belittles or otherwise affronts the dignity of” identifiable groups — language that the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission said was already ignored in practice.

But it upheld the controversial legal concept of speech that is “likely to expose” certain groups to hatred.

The Saskatchewan law, which is similar to others in Alberta, B.C., the Northwest Territories and federally, “appropriately balances the fundamental values underlying freedom of expression with competing Charter rights and other values essential to a free and democratic society, in this case a commitment to equality and respect for group identity and the inherent dignity owed to all human beings,” wrote Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein for the court.

“Framing speech as arising in a moral context or within a public policy debate does not cleanse it of its harmful effect,” the judges decided.

The judges reinstated Mr. Whatcott’s conviction by a hate speech tribunal in the case of two anti-gay fliers he distributed, but overturned it in the case of two others.

The judges have essentially done nothing to do away with the ridiculous hate speech law (consider how broadly defined and applied it is). As the "belittlement" aspect was already ignored, they upheld the "likelihood of exposure"aspect- the shield of the self-identifying, paranoid and perpetually offended masses- to protect the thin-skinned from any sort of slight, insult or legitimate criticism. How, pray, should anything be brought up if, even in moral and public policy discussions, speech still bears a "harmful effect" to those who use the law and human right commissions to wage personal vendettas against those with whom they find offense? Who is likely to be harmed by this kind of "hate" speech- the parties that can use taxpayers' money and the power of the Crown to penalise a speaker or the speaker himself? Debating or ignoring the aforementioned speaker would have cost what? The wags and the judges have made, of all people, William Whatcott a free speech hero or at least a household name and have sent a chill down the spines of a populace who dare not even breathe lest they offer offense.

And all because someone said homosexuality is a sin.

(Oh dear... now I've likely done it....)


She went for the story, she stayed for the hug:

Does famed environmentalist David Suzuki not know that Sun News often reports about Sun News?

A reporter for Sun News says Suzuki refused to appear at a public policy debate Tuesday night, until she and her cameraman were escorted from the premises at the Ottawa stop of the “The Eco Tour.”

“When it was revealed we represented Sun News, we were no longer welcome,” reporter Jessica Hume said in a post Wednesday called “The good doctor will not see you now. 

“David Suzuki didn’t just refuse to speak to us. He refused to appear altogether, sending a handful of hostile event organizers to remove us from the premises.

“After much debate and my reiterating I would be staying to ask a question, one of the event-organizers-turned-Suzuki-mandated-attack-dogs turned to the sizable crowd, incensed that I wouldn’t leave quietly, and yelled for someone to call 911.”

In a video accompanying the post, an organizer tells Hume: “Unfortunately, David Suzuki does not have time to talk to you tonight, you can wait outside.” The video is worth watching for the moment the smile on Hume’s face approaches “Gotcha!” level five. 

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was moderating the event, and according to her spokesman, she appealed to the Sun News team to stay until after the event, where she would take questions.

“Only Rob Ford calls 911 on the media!” she joked. 

May also gave Hume a big hug, which has to be considered a historic moment in environmentalist-Sun News relations. Hume later said on Sun News that she has “tremendous respect” for May. 

(Sidebar: indeed, as she appeared to be the only civilised one there.)



Leave it to leftists and liberals to not only make themselves look ridiculous but paranoid, as well. What does one expect from celebrity scientist David Suzuki and the United "Church"?

Related: Sun News Network isn't getting public funding, TWIT.


I thought it was bad enough that Chinese workers are both badly treated and paid. Now they have to do homework:

A Chinese manager outsourced his 12-year-old daughter’s homework to nine of his employees.

The senior executive’s plan was disclosed when one of his disgruntled workers told a local newspaper.

The worker, who gave his name as Mr. Chen, said it took three days to finish the work. “We stayed up late for two nights,” he said. “The girl was quite demanding. She only needed to do one of the four options but insisted on doing them all, without getting involved herself in any way.”

North Korea's network of gulags:

A newly released analysis of satellite imagery paints a bleak picture of North Korea’s growing gulag network. 

The North’s Labour Camp No. 25, which makes up part of what campaigners call “one of the worst, but least understood and reported, human rights situations in the world,” appears to be in the midst of a dramatic expansion. 

According to the Committee of Human Rights in North Korea, the camp grew at least 72% since 2003. The number of perimeter guard posts jumped from 20 in 2003 to 43 by 2010.

The group believes the gulag network expansion may be a response to purges in the lead up to Kim Jong-un’s succession.

Direct information on North Korea’s forced labour camps is hard to come by, but human rights abuses have been well-documented by defectors. 

After escaping, Shin Dong-hyuk equated his experience with surviving a camp in Hitler’s Germany. 

“People think the Holocaust is in the past, but it is still very much a reality,” Dong-hyk told Agence France-Presse. “It is still going on in North Korea.”

Gulag prisoners are often victims of forced disappearances. There are between 150,000-200,000 political prisoners in the camps, according to an Economist report.

See here for an incredible resource and insight into this modern-day tragedy. I hope the TDSB is watching.

(Muchas gracias)


And now, this:





(please don't try it at home)