Happy Easter

The Problem(s) With Islam

The derivative religion of Islam, founded in the seventh century by Mohammad, a man held in such high regard that he may as well be a deity beyond question or criticism, has made itself run afoul of most public opinion with its propensity toward violence, gender and cultural chauvinism and failed states. These socio-political effects are seen readily and can be derided and condemned. But theologically, how strong is Islam? Is it a faith that can survive spiritual weathering? Are its foundations strong?

A few things to consider, aside from the origins of Islam, are how God is perceived, His capabilities and how Muslims may conduct themselves.

First of all, as was stated before, Islam is a derivative religion preceded by Judaism and its divergent off-shoot, Christianity. While Judaism boasts a covenant with God and Christianity has Jesus Christ as its head, Islam holds Mohammad, who waged brutal war against those who did not believe in the religion he founded, whose opinion of women was low and who married a six year old girl, the man as its model for how its adherents behave.There is no central authority as the final arbiter of form and matter or to rein in its clerics, no room for interpretation of a chronologically incongruous text nor has any major change taken place since Islam was founded. The religion operates very much the same way it has for centuries.

So when Islamic clerics wildly claim that Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a man they don't believe is the Son of God, is a time of fornication and evil, who supports or negates them? No one. Indeed, even wishing someone a Merry Christmas is like professing Christianity or admitting that Jesus is God rather than getting into the spirit of things or even an act of civility. Cultural faux pas abound!

What is more is that even Christ's death is denied. This video put out by Answering Muslims carefully dissects (a thorough and wonderful job of it is done, too) the arguments of a Muslim speaker, Zakir Naik's, that God made it appear that Jesus died on the cross but did not in fact do so. God, or Allah, apparently is a better liar than the devil. The Roman soldiers, who had no side to pick one way or another and who not only scourged Jesus, marched Him to His death, nailed Him to a cross and witnessed Him expire, hence not breaking His legs, were lying? And why capitalise on the fact that the Jews were responsible for the death of a man who is not only not the Christ but did not even die? If Jesus didn't die, why bring it up? The Talmud also mentions Jesus’ death. Though the Koran (4:157) is quick to condemn the Jews for killing the man that Muslims do not believe is the Son of God, Jewish law dictated that trial and punishment would not occur so close to the Sabbath, making Jesus’ execution a Roman affair. But who instigated or carried out the death of Christ is a moot point as the Bible makes clear that Jesus was sacrificed for the sins of all.

This boils down to the crux of Islamic belief. First, that with God, something is impossible. If God is all-powerful, as even the Koran states, then why can't God take on human form, walk the Earth, die and rise back to life? If this is impossible, than what is greater than God? Or is it a matter of being unwilling to believe that God is capable of doing these things?  All things are possible with God, therefore, God can assume human form and save the world. That He chose one group of people in which to do this should not deprive all of humanity from the messages of peace and salvation. Christianity may have originated in Israel but does that mean people in Asia also cannot believe? The possibility of openness and universality seems lacking in the Islamic world if they cannot fathom that one man from one place came for all. Furthermore, this lack of belief not only makes God impotent but, if he is perceived as a liar, is cruel. Why believe in a higher being who is deceptive? It's one thing not to understand Divine plans; it's quite another to not care if whoever makes them is wicked.

Why labour under a religion where the Supreme Being is powerless and a liar? This negative view of God reflects on the people who hold that belief. They don't think much of Him but they do fear Him or at least those who say they know Him. Would it not be better to believe that a being who created the world can do other things, even forgive sins of others? Wouldn't that being give comfort and hope?

On A Friday

An appropriately sombre Good Friday.


Please remember the Christians in the Holy Land and surrounding areas. Remember their neighbours, too, some of whom love them, the others hate them.


Ralph Klein, former Premier  of Alberta, has passed away. He was seventy.

Buoyed by oil, Alberta’s boom-bust economy has often been reflected in its mercurial picks for premier; its preference swings between builders and breakers, visionaries and pragmatists. The late Peter Lougheed, who took the Progressive Conservatives to power in 1971, was a cosmopolitan, aristocratic statesman — the kind of leader who wanted to put the province on the map and use the state’s bountiful oil wealth to build and diversity the economy. If Mr. Lougheed was who Albertans may have aspired to be, Mr. Klein was closer to who they really were; conservative, level-headed and candid. As long as Mr. Klein spoke his mind and kept the books balanced, his occasional gaffes were just another chance for Albertans to revel in their own Albertanness. And, if the polls were any indication, Albertans loved this guy.

Stop catering to the Chinese:

The latest news out of the Marvel film universe makes near perfect sense. Marvel Studios will release a different version of the upcoming Iron Man 3 to China, one with new scenes featuring Chinese actress Fan Bingbing plus bonus footage not included in the U.S. version. ...

Last year's Red Dawn remake was supposed to feature China as the country invading U.S. borders. The studio behind the project got cold feet and changed the enemy to North Korea. The switcheroo certainly had a financial component. Why anger an entire continent filled with people who would otherwise love to see your film?

There's more to it than that. As TheWrap.com reports, China is very strict about the content it allows to be shown in its country. Will future films cater to the country's whims hoping to snare approval? Can we expect pro-Chinese sentiments sneaking into content?

Not one of them is Park Chan-Wook, anyway.


I had to laugh a little when I read this:

Tuesday's report that Pope Francis has chosen to live in a modest two-room apartment within the Vatican rather than the more spacious ten-room Papal Apartment on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace offers a stark contrast to the numerous reports of personal extravagance by President Obama, his family, and his administration throughout his tenure in office.

Since December, the Obama family has averaged one vacation per month. In February, President Obama flew to Florida at taxpayer expense for a day of golfing with Tiger Woods. Vice President Joe Biden's recent one-night stay at a luxury hotel in Paris, France was estimated to cost taxpayers $585,000.

Oh, I'm sure Obama will learn from the new pontiff's modesty and love of his fellow man. I'm sure.

Does that pig have wings?


Over at the Fur: there are five D's of dodgeball; Blogwrath was good enough to film some Jew-hatred (just in time for Good Friday). It's cultish, really; Christ's Passion re-enacted in London; if you thought that the Democratic Party was an open and tolerant one, you would be wrong; I think the exact term is infanticide- Planned Parenthood shows its true homicidal colours; how are the two token gays guys getting "married" anyway like the Holocaust, the Holodmor or the Killing Fields? I need to ask; if you want to know why the province of Ontario is both broke and corrupt, take a look at the Sunshine List; Michelle Obama wants to ruin Easter for everyone and banning the word EASTER is like banning the word CHRISTMAS in that you are fooling no one and you are a self-hating political correctness tool.


The Turin Shroud is real, claims book:

Experiments conducted by scientists at the University of Padua in northern Italy have dated the shroud to ancient times, a few centuries before and after the life of Christ. 

Many Catholics believe that the 14ft-long linen cloth, which bears the imprint of the face and body of a bearded man, was used to bury Christ's body when he was lifted down from the cross after being crucified 2,000 years ago. 

The analysis is published in a new book, "Il Mistero della Sindone" or The Mystery of the Shroud, by Giulio Fanti, a professor of mechanical and thermal measurement at Padua University, and Saverio Gaeta, a journalist. 

The tests will revive the debate about the true origins of one of Christianity's most prized but mysterious relics and are likely to be hotly contested by sceptics. 

Scientists, including Prof Fanti, used infra-red light and spectroscopy – the measurement of radiation intensity through wavelengths – to analyse fibres from the shroud, which is kept in a special climate-controlled case in Turin. 

The tests dated the age of the shroud to between 300 BC and 400AD. 

The experiments were carried out on fibres taken from the Shroud during a previous study, in 1988, when they were subjected to carbon-14 dating. 

Those tests, conducted by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Arizona, appeared to back up the theory that the shroud was a clever medieval fake, suggesting that it dated from 1260 to 1390. 

But those results were in turn disputed on the basis that they may have been skewed by contamination by fibres from cloth that was used to repair the relic when it was damaged by fire in the Middle Ages.
Mr Fanti, a Catholic, said his results were the fruit of 15 years of research. 

He said the carbon-14 dating tests carried out in 1988 were “false” because of laboratory contamination....

Scientists have never been able to explain how the image of a man's body, complete with nail wounds to his wrists and feet, pinpricks from thorns around his forehead and a spear wound to his chest, could have formed on the cloth. Mr Fanti said the imprint was caused by a blast of “exceptional radiation”, although he stopped short of describing it as a miracle. 

He said his tests backed up earlier results which claimed to have found on the shroud traces of dust and pollen which could only have come from the Holy Land.

   (thanks a bunch, Gordon)

Good Friday

Mid-Week Post

There's a unicorn in this for you.

If you take from the government purse, you don't have the luxury to refuse transparency:

The Conservative government’s legislation aimed at increasing financial transparency on First Nation reserves is set to become law on Wednesday after passing the Senate on Tuesday.

Once enacted, the law will require First Nation governments to publicize audited financial statements and the salaries and expenses of their chiefs and councillors. ...

The legislation’s proponents have said its measures will create much-needed financial transparency on First Nation reserves. In January, the Conservatives identified the legislation as a key priority.

But the bill’s opponents called it overreaching and simplistic, and say it adds to an already burdensome reporting process for bands under the Indian Act. They said most bands are already accountable and go above and beyond proposed regulations.

If the bands don’t provide required documents, a member of that First Nation or the minister of aboriginal affairs could go to court to obtain the information. Bands that don’t comply with the new rules could have their federal funding withheld.

The government says reporting burdens won’t increase; the act will publicize information that bands already provide to the ministry of aboriginal affairs.

“This legislation recognizes that First Nation members want no less than other Canadians when it comes to knowing how public funds are spent in their communities,” Valcourt said on Wednesday.

Colin Craig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which has pushed for the legislation since 2009, said he’s “ecstatic” at its passing.

“The sad reality is many people on reserves can’t find out how much their chiefs and councillors are making,” he told Postmedia News. “That’s something the grassroots have told us loud and clear they want to know.”

He also suggested the law could have immediate effects on some bands whose leaders aren’t forthcoming with financial information.

If you think it's political poison, just say so, you big weasel:

The Conservatives admit they have “rogues” within their party as one MP said his colleagues “must suffer the consequences” for their anti-abortion stance amid the most open show of rebellion under Prime Minister Stephen Harper to date. 

Ontario Tory MP Jay Aspin told reporters on his way to a highly anticipated caucus meeting Wednesday that it is fellow Conservative MP Mark Warawa’s own problem that he thinks he is being muzzled because he wants to speak contrary to party policy. 

“If these rogue members want to do what they want to do, they have to suffer the consequences and that’s all I have to say,” Aspin said.

“[Warawa] is a rogue member for this particular issue.” 

Warawa complained that stifling party discipline is preventing him from representing his Langley, B.C., constituents, and asked Speaker Andrew Scheer to intervene in what he called a breach of his privileges as an MP.

Warawa’s complaint was echoed by another Conservative backbencher, Alberta MP Leon Benoit, and backed by others.

Their concerns revolve around their ability to take part in the 15-minute period each day set aside for members’ statements, known as S.O. 31s.

Warawa said he was on the Conservative roster to make a statement last Thursday but was informed moments before that he’d been struck from the list.

“The reason I was given was that the topic was not approved,” he told the Commons.

Benoit said the same thing has happened to him more than once.

Here is a list of the Tory party's openness in discussing anything abortion-related:

The Bill, C-510, an Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Coercion), was introduced by Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge (Winnipeg South). It sought to specify that coercing a woman to have an abortion would be a Criminal Code offense. The bill was defeated in a recorded division on second reading, and that’s the end of that for now.

Tory MP Stephen Woodworth wants Parliament to create a committee of politicians whose task it will be to review a law that stops short of defining unborn children as "human beings."

Minister for Status of Women Rona Ambrose faced a barrage of criticism after she voted in favour of a motion that sought to resurrect the abortion debate in Canada.

Pro-choice groups slammed Ambrose for joining nine other cabinet ministers in voting for Motion 312, a private member’s bill, Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had announced his intention to vote against the motion, and it was defeated 203 to 91.

A Conservative MP who wants parliamentarians to condemn sex-selection abortions is refusing to back down after his motion was deemed out of order last week by a House of Commons committee.

Apparently, these are unreasonable and untenable positions to even consider, let alone discuss or vote on.


Run-of-the-mill Russian authoritarianism or return to communism?
  

Twitter has bowed to pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin to block all content blacklisted by Russia's Federal Service for Supervision in Telecommunications, Information Technology and Mass Communications. 

Putin's government reports that since early March, Twitter has "actively been engaged in cooperation" with Russian authorities. Twitter has already deleted pinpointed accounts and is restricting access on the basis of "five information materials" as determined by Russian authorities.

A statement from the Kremlin praised Twitter's cooperation with the massive censorship policy.

No one expects anything out of Twitter.

I think it's the former. No one in Russia wants Soviet-style communism to return but no one wants to cross Putin, either. Who says the czars or the Politburo were dead?


I guess they are doing it for the children:

Ontario's long-grumbling elementary school teachers' union has finally conceded the last plot of land in an ongoing war over imposed teacher contracts, announcing they would allow teachers to participate in extracurricular activities.

Sam Hammond, the president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said union members are allowed to return to coaching and tutoring students outside of class hours because negotiations with the provincial government have improved.

Oh, I'm sure she did a lot of thinking about this:

Ashley Judd's flirtation with a Senatorial campaign featured a series of gaffes large and small.

Today the actress pulled the plug on her potential challenge to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell before it officially started.

There must have been interventions abound for this to happen. This woman is a nutcase.


So is the father, so is the son:

Hopper Penn, the 19-year-old son of Oscar winner Sean Penn, attacked a photographer yesterday. The assault brought back memories of his father's famous battles with the paparazzi.

The young Penn upped his daddy's violent outbursts by hurling a homophobic and racial slur against the photographer in question, who is black, according to TMZ.

19-year-old Hopper Penn was following his dad into a medical building when he got into the altercation with an African-American photographer (not TMZ's).

The nuclear exchange was all caught on tape ... Hopper gets up in the photog's face, pushing him, then says, "F*** you ... you're a f***ing f***ot ... shut up you f***ing n***er."

The elder Penn, meanwhile, kept his composure.

There are no unicorns. Not anymore.

A Few More Things

The People's President has gone on more holidays than you:

The Obamas rang in the new year during a long holiday in Hawaii. In February, the family jetted to Aspen for a ski getaway. While his family was there, Obama flew to Florida for a "guys' weekend" of golf with celebrities like Tiger Woods. Obama's golf getaway alone was estimated to cost around $1 million, or about half the savings achieved by canceling the White House tours. 

It should also be noted that, since the President and his family decided on separate vacations for Presidents Day weekend, the costs for Secret Service would be considerably higher than if they vacationed together. 

Breitbart News reported Monday that the First Daughters, Sasha and Malia, were spending Spring Break with friends at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. It is unknown whether Michelle and Barack will join their daughters in the Bahamas, or if the family will vacation somewhere else for Easter. 

Preparations are already underway for the Obamas' summer trip to Martha's Vineyard. That trip is only a little more than four months away. The family will certainly be in need of another get-away by then.

Just like the Sasquatch, no one has seen him do any work.

He does cut off services to the public, though.

Compare this to:

On Monday afternoon, Salon‘s Joan Walsh posted a scathing critique of Breitbart‘s Matthew Boyle, triggered by Boyle’s report on President Obama’s daughters’ spring break vacation in the Bahamas.

Arguing that Boyle’s reporting has a racial undercurrent, Walsh’s post is entitled: “How not to seem like a racist: A tip for right-wingers angry about charges of racial bias: Try treating the Obama daughters with decency.”

Walsh’s general theme, and explicit advice she repeats, is: “Try treating his [Obama's] daughters with respect.” ...

That’s right. The very same Joan Walsh, who today rails about the need to show POTUS’s daughters “respect” and “decency”, in 2001 penned an article for Salon implying that Jenna Bush, a teenager at the time, may have a drinking problem.

How "racist" is it to expect someone who would call themselves a journalist (or the like) to expect their leader to: (a) actually work  (b) go on brief, local holidays that have no or little financial and social detriment on a populace that struggles to feed itself  (c) treat their previous leader's children "with respect"?

Help me out, Joan Walsh.


Oh, will you look at this:

Judicial Watch announced today that it has received documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealing that its National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has awarded $5,877,710 dollars to 49 victims in claims made against the highly controversial HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines. To date 200 claims have been filed with VICP, with barely half adjudicated.

That's interesting:

North Korea repeated threats on Tuesday to target U.S. military bases as Washington and its allies tightened economic sanctions against the isolated country by targeting Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank with new measures.

Why doesn't Kim Jong-Un threaten to hold his breath until he gets what he wants, which I'm sure is a lifetime supply of pepperoni pizzas and more washed-up celebrities paying him a visit?

Nothing brings people together like a war they can't win, though.

A Post, For It Is Tuesday

Let's get Holy Week off to a good start....

...with this:

This Holy Week will be full of tensions for Catholics in West Jakarta, who put up with repeated threats over the weekend from hundreds of Islamic extremists, who tried to block access to Christ the Peace Catholic Church in Kepa Duri, an administrative area west of the Indonesian capital.

Last Saturday, on the eve of Palm Sunday, Islamist groups made serious threats against Catholics in Kepa Duri, telling the priest and the faithful to cancel scheduled weekend celebrations.

Their hatred was triggered by the fact that the place of worship is located inside a school, which, in their opinion, “should not be used” for religious services.

The extremists tried to attack the site when the priest and some members of the congregation started a prayer meeting. As a result, Fr Matthew Widyolestari turned to the Interfaith Forum in Jakarta, which met with the leaders of the extremist protest.

Since when were schoolgirl-killers such libertarians? Are they agents of the TDSB? If they must persist in this heretical religion, at the very least they shouldn't be wieners about things.

(thank you)


Kenneth Bae is still missing:

DON’T forget about Kenneth Bae. North Korean officials arrested the Lynnwood man last November, reportedly after he led tourists into the reclusive country. 

Four months later, he remains in custody.

China will not enforce sanctions on North Korea:

In his memoirs, former president George W. Bush recounts a story about North Korea and China. In October 2002, he invited China’s then-president, Jiang Zemin, to his Texas ranch. North Korea was developing nuclear weapons, and Bush wanted China’s help. According to Bush, Jiang told him that “North Korea was my problem, not his.” China did nothing.

A few months later, Bush tried a different tack. He told Jiang in January 2003 that if North Korea’s nuclear weapons program continued, the United States would not be able to stop Japan from developing its own nuclear arsenal. Still nothing. A month later he warned China that if the problem was not solved diplomatically he would consider a military strike against North Korea. Only at that point did China react. Talks with North Korea were commenced, but the hermit kingdom continued its nuclear program and last month conducted its third nuclear test. ...

To be sure, China worked closely with the United States in drafting the latest U.N. sanctions on North Korea, and some top officials, including the grandson of Chairman Mao Zedong, have openly criticized Kim Jong Un’s regime. China’s new president, Xi Jinping, is rumored to be open to different tactics, but that doesn’t change the basic issue as far as Beijing is concerned. Simply put, China’s leaders don’t buy the U.S. argument that it is in Beijing’s interests to work with Washington to solve the North Korean nuclear mess. And if you were a Communist Party boss in Beijing, you might not either. 

The reasons are both ideological and historical. First, China’s main interest in North Korea is not denuclearization; it is ensuring that the North Korean government does not fall. While Beijing might be exasperated with the Kim dynasty’s uncanny ability to wag China’s dog, China will support Pyongyang because the alternative, a North Korean collapse, is worse. While many South Koreans fear the cost of unification with their brothers to the north, China opposes that even more stridently.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees would pour into neighboring China. Then China would have to determine how to deal with South Korean and U.S. troops who would move to secure the North’s nuclear weapons. Beijing would also be faced with millions of Korean-Chinese inspired by a new, united homeland. The issue of a potential North Korean collapse is so sensitive that Chinese officials have declined repeated U.S. entreaties to discuss scenarios of how to avoid clashes when and if it happens. 

Clearly for Beijing, the presence of a Communist buffer state, even an irritating one, between China and South Korea remains critical. A Korean Peninsula united under the South would pose a huge challenge to China’s political system. East Germany is the parallel some Chinese use when asked why China won’t squeeze Pyongyang: The Soviet Union collapsed when the Berlin Wall fell. If the no-man’s land separating North and South Korea were breached, could the same thing happen to Beijing? 

China has also always believed it necessary to control at least a part of the Korean Peninsula. In 1894, China’s last dynasty, the Qing, fought its first war with Japan over who would lead the Korean kingdom. China lost. Obviously, China doesn’t call all the shots in North Korea today, but its influence over Pyongyang is significantly larger than it would be over a united Korea with its capital in Seoul. 

Finally, there’s an unstated reason for China’s reluctance to squeeze North Korea, underscored by Jiang’s comment to Bush that Pyongyang’s bomb was America’s problem, not China’s. Parts of the Chinese Communist Party-state believe that a nuclear North Korea complicates U.S. security calculations more than it does China’s. And to them, that is not a bad thing.

Let's stop trading with China. Plough the cyber-spies, currency-fixers and monopolisers with as many tariffs as it takes. No one will have the courage to outright condemn China for all that it has done.

(Kamsahamnida)


Culture- it matters:

The marriage of two dead people in China is a centuries-old custom called "minghun," or "ghost marriage."

According to folklore, if people are alone when they die, they will be alone in the afterlife, too. Worse yet, lonely ghosts might come back and try to take family members back to their world to keep them company. So it becomes a family responsibility to make sure deceased relatives are happily married.

(Merci, Madame Furie)


Is someone trying to shut down Blazing Cat Fur? I don't know why. He's such an agreeable chap. Go here to find out more.


And now, polite applause for SDA, the best Canadian weblog of the year.

Obamacare Is Bad for Small Businesses

See here:

The latest paper to peer into the eerie fog outside its bedroom window and see Barack Obama’s undead health care program floating outside and tapping on the glass is the New York Times, which on Wednesday published a “case study” of wholesale bakery in San Diego called Baked In the Sun:

THE CHALLENGE: The company is one of thousands of small businesses that employ more than 50 full-time employees and thus will be required to offer health insurance to their workers — or pay into a government fund — beginning Jan. 1. Rachel Shein and Steve Pilarski, the married owners of the bakery, which employs 95 people, estimate this could cost their business up to $108,000, and they are weighing their options as the date approaches. “Our revenues are about $8 million, but the food business is a low-margin industry so cutting $108,000 out of our profits, which are just over $200,000, is a big deal,” said Ms. Shein, who is the chief executive. They are evaluating different ways to comply with the new law and finance the expense. ...

During the recession, the coffee shop business contracted so they found new customers among hotels and hospitals, but the cost of servicing different types of businesses and developing new products to meet their needs eroded profits. At the same time, gasoline and ingredient prices went up and vendors tightened payment terms. Still, the couple persevered by providing an array of freshly baked goods and offering product variety and consolidated delivery, simplifying things for their customers. ...

Later in the article, we learn that the owners of Baked In the Sun are still uncertain about how to deal with these costs, because so many delightful costs and regulations are yet to emerge from the pits of ObamaCare.  They aren’t entirely sure how much the mandated insurance would cost, or if it would be cheaper to pay the $130,000 penalty the Supreme Court says is not a tax (except when it is) and dump their employees into the public exchanges, saving themselves an estimated $10,000 in administrative costs.  Or maybe they’ll just cut and outsource 45 or 50 jobs to get themselves off the ObamaCare radar screen.

Putting the squeeze on a bakery? You ba------!


(thank you)

The World Is Taking Crazy Pills (Pt. 14)

That sounds nice but when will the chiefs be held to account?

A major budget initiative to make social assistance for First Nations youth contingent on entering into a training program is likely to get a rough ride on reserves, the NDP says.

(Sidebar: if there is anyone who can't see the shame in being paternalistic and money-grubbing, it's the NDP.)

The hands are out again.


If North Korea was serious, it wouldn't let China hold it back. It would just attack and become one unified Korea overnight:

North Korea said it would attack U.S. military bases on Japan and the Pacific island of Guam if provoked, a day after leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a mock drone strike on South Korea.

The North also held an air raid drill on Thursday after accusing the United States of preparing a military strike using bombers that have overflown the Korean peninsula as part of drills between South Korean and U.S. forces.

North Korea has stepped up its rhetoric in response to what it calls "hostile" drills between South Korea and the United States. It has also been angered by the imposition of fresh U.N. sanctions that followed its February 12 nuclear test.

Separately, South Korea said a hacking attack on the servers of local broadcasters and banks on Wednesday originated from an IP address in China, raising suspicions the intrusion came from North Korea.

"The United States is advised not to forget that our precision target tools have within their range the Anderson Air Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanese mainland where nuclear powered submarines are deployed and the navy bases on Okinawa," the North's supreme military command spokesman was quoted as saying by the KCNA news agency.

Japan and U.S. Pacific bases are in range of Pyongyang's medium-range missiles. ...

The hacking attack brought down the servers of South Korean broadcasters YTN, MBC and KBS as well as two major commercial banks, Shinhan Bank and NongHyup Bank.

South Korean communications regulators said the attack originated from an IP address based in China.

An unnamed official from South Korea's presidential office was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying the discovery of the Chinese IP address indicated Pyongyang was responsible.

Investigations of past hacking incidents on South Korean organizations have been traced to Pyongyang's large army of computer engineers trained to infiltrate the South's computer networks.

At least one previous attack was traced to a Chinese IP address.

South Korea's defense ministry said it was too early to blame the North but said such a cyber capability was a key part of its arsenal. Experts say thousands of North Korean engineers may have been recruited for the purpose.

"Throughout the world, states that create cyber warfare and engage in those types of activities are precisely the same countries that develop nuclear weapons," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

"North Korea has strongly stepped up development of asymmetrical strategy with nuclear development and many types of ballistic missiles as well as a special forces of 200,000 strong."

So- when will the rest of the world isolate North Korea from China, its sponsor and owner? If or when that ever happens, how brave will North Korea be? I believe what has been happening as of late is nothing dissimilar from what it has always done- issue threats and rattle its sabre until it gets what it wants. Nothing changes. Until North Korea is completely isolated (ie- completely cut off from China), nothing will.


German scientists have removed themselves from oil sands work. Germany is forced to cancel its "green" programs due to lack of money. Discuss.


For some inexplicable reason, the Department of Homeland Security will give Saudi nationals "trusted traveller" status:

A Department of Homeland Security program intended to give "trusted traveler" status to low-risk airline passengers soon will be extended to Saudi travelers, opening the program to criticism for accommodating the country that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ...

Any Saudi travelers cleared through the program will be able to bypass the normal customs line after providing passports and fingerprints. The status lasts for five years.

The decision is a turnaround, the IPT notes, from when Saudi Arabia was briefly placed on a list of countries whose U.S.-bound travelers would face higher scrutiny, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt in 2009.

But Napolitano spoke highly of "the bond between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" when she announced the change in January.

"By enhancing collaboration with the government of Saudi Arabia, we reaffirm our commitment to more effectively secure our two countries against evolving threats while facilitating legitimate trade and travel," Napolitano said.

(Sidebar: this is the same cow who believed that the September 11th hijackers entered the US through Canada.)

Fifteen of the nineteen September 11th hijackers were Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia has funded and still funds international terrorism. Obama has given Egypt F-16's and has insulted Israel on its soil.

What can possibly go wrong with all of this?


For some reason, men who say they are women can now legally watch children pee:

A bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against transgender Canadians was approved by the House of Commons today.

(Sidebar: WRONG! As franchised citizens of this Dominion, they can vote and get their fetish surgeries paid for by the taxpayer. What was objected to was the invasion of privacy of ninety-eight percent of the Canadian population.)

Yep. Your government voted for it. An emotionally backward sexual subculture has more sway in the House of Commons than the average Canadian ever will.


How can anything not permitted to even be discussed be "non-votable"?

Mark Warawa’s motion to condemn sex selection was declared non-votable Thursday morning in the ongoing joint effort by Canada’s Conservative government and the Opposition to keep the abortion debate out of Parliament.

The question was brought up unexpectedly at the Sub-Committee on Private Members’ Business on the day the government is set to release its budget for 2013, meaning newsrooms across the country are locked up.

The sub-committee vote, believed to be at the instigation of the Prime Minister’s Office, was unanimous.

If I didn't know better, I would think that the Conservatives wanted to lose every election from now until the sun burns out of the sky.

Related:

Notwithstanding Dr. Gosnell’s jest, and the fact that newborns delivered alive are generally regarded as “babies,” the New York Times’ only story on the case is punctilious enough to refer to Gosnell’s victims as “viable fetuses,” and its early paragraphs emphasize the defense’s wearily predictable line that this is a “racist prosecution.” Instead of my Arizona comparison, what about Sandy Hook? One solitary act of mass infanticide by a mentally-ill loner calls into question the constitutional right to guns, but a sustained conveyor belt of infanticide by an entire cadre of cold-blooded killers apparently has no implications for the constitutional right to abortion.

The Internet AND the Canadian political scene are full of cats:

PM’s cat becomes Reddit celebrity as Harper apparently mails glossy feline photo to letter writer

Cat look-alikes

(With thanks)

Obama Is A Moron

Like Michael Moore, the corpulent director of "Bowling for Columbine" (among other things), Obama has no understanding of either the United States or its naturally beautiful neighbour, Canada.

We can shoot all of our beer commercials here.

Case in point:

At his press conference Thursday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, President Barack Obama chose an unusual example to drive home his belief that peace between Israelis and Palestinians is possible.

In his effort to convince the local populations, who have been in a decades-old (and some might even say millennia-old) conflict, Obama invoked perhaps the most peaceful neighbors on the planet, that is the U.S. and Canada.

“We can’t afford to have our kids in bed sleeping and suddenly a rocket comes through the roof, but my argument is even though both sides may have areas of strong disagreement, may be engaging in activities the other side considers to be a breach of good faith, we have to push through those things to try to get to an agreement,” Obama said.

“Because if we get an agreement then it will be very clear what the nature of that agreement is,” he added.

Obama described his vision: “There will be a sovereign Palestinian state, a sovereign Jewish state of Israel and those two states can, I think, will be able to deal with each other the same way all states do.”

And then he invoked this example: “I mean, you know, the United States and Canada has arguments once in a while, but they’re not the nature of arguments that can’t be solved diplomatically.”

Yes, but though Canada has many faults, being crammed to the rafters with inbred Jew-haters who lob missiles at their well-educated neighbours is not one of them. The last time the US tried invading Canada, we sent them packing, gave them something to remember us by and then the Treaty of Ghent. Doesn't Obama read?

The White House: it's our legacy, too.

It's a stupid analogy but it's one that Obama is capable of making. Also, there is a deep-rooted resentment of a semi-capitalist country not being driven into the ground. That must drive Obama mad.

Mid-Week Post

The ice cream centre of the work week.

South Korea is walloped by a cyber-attack:

Major banks and TV broadcasters suffered massive computer network failures on Wednesday afternoon. It is unclear who was behind the attack.

The computer networks of broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN simultaneously failed at around 2:15 p.m. Computers suddenly shut down or froze and could not be rebooted until late afternoon.

Shinhan Bank’s computer network suffered the same fate. Computers at headquarters and all branches failed or had files deleted automatically, while operations ranging from banking and ATMs to online transactions ground to a halt.

Shinhan managed to restore the network about two hours later.

Jeju Bank, Nonghyup, NH Life Insurance and NH Fire also suffered massive network failures until late afternoon. No damage was reported in government or military computer networks.

The Korea Communications Commission said a malicious code was spread through servers in companies that automatically update PC vaccine programs. Cyber security experts said hackers opted to use what is known as an "Advanced Persistent Threat" method to knock down the networks -- a more sophisticated way of bringing down entire computer systems compared to the so-called distributed denial of service attacks South Korea suffered previously, which simply overload the systems.

The government and military here are focusing on the fact that the cyber attacks came just five days after North Korea threatened revenge for two days of hacking attacks apparently suffered by the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily and Korean Central Television. 

I think one has a pretty good idea who did this and how completely frakked South Korea, the most wired country in the world, can be if it ever happens again. Get your EMPs ready and mark Beijing and Pyongyang on the map. Also, stop letting China monopolise the only real industry- computer technology- you have.

Related: the Canadian government cuts off direct aid to China. Let's stop trading with them.


Syria is accusing rebels against the Assad government of using chemical weapons:

Syria's government on Tuesday accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons, with state media saying "terrorists" had fired "rockets containing chemical materials" in Aleppo province, killing 15 people.
"Terrorists fired rockets containing chemical materials on Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province, and preliminary information suggests 15 people were killed, mostly civilians," the state news agency SANA and Syrian state television said.
The accusation is the first such claim by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad against rebel forces, though the international community has warned the regime against deploying its own stocks of chemical weapons.
There are also concerns that the weapons could fall into the hands of militants, with the United States and Israel particularly concerned about the fate of the arms if the regime loses control over them.

The difference between Stephen Harper and you, Justin Sparklestar, is that the former can at least say he has accomplished something:

On a near-empty Porter Airlines flight from Halifax to Ottawa Tuesday evening, Trudeau was sent a note from a fellow passenger asking: “Can you really beat Harper?”

“Just watch me,” Trudeau wrote back, invoking Pierre Trudeau’s famous phrase during the 1970 October Crisis. 

Michael Kydd of Nova Scotia sent the note, later saying on Twitter that “I now have a great story for my children!”

It didn’t take long for the eye-rolling to begin in Conservative circles, and Harper’s spokesperson issued a cheeky retort of his own using the words of former prime minister Trudeau. 

Andrew MacDougall posted his own note on Twitter that asked: “What do you think of Justin Trudeau’s ‘Just watch me’ note?”

“Fuddle duddle,” was MacDougall’s response, invoking Pierre Trudeau’s greatest addition to the Canadian lexicon.

Democratic senators vote to bar the public from White House tours:

While President Obama’s administration has suggested that the Secret Service is to blame for the closure of White House tours, the onus now falls on the Democrat-controlled Senate. On Wednesday, Democrats rejected a Republican attempt to reopen the White House tours in a straight party-line vote. 54 Democrats voted against reopening the tours. None have voted to defund President Obama’s golf trips.

Obama isn't the only petulant little freak in the American government.


And now, the Peepal Conclave. Enjoy.

(Merci)

Someone's Going to Say Something About This, Right?

Surely there are entire committees and things set up for these problems, right?

"Out of the 52 Catholic churches in Maiduguri diocese, 50 of them have been destroyed by Boko Haram. Yet the faithful are not discouraged of their faith. You would always see them worshiping under rain and sun in open places at the site of their destroyed places of worship,"...

Brit Hume on abortion in China: ‘This festival of slaughter will be seen for the crime against humanity it is’

Ottawa police are officially refusing to comment on a claim that one of its officers destroyed private property.

The destruction of property happened last Thursday when a police constable, identified only by the last name Clark, demanded a camera be handed over by a protestor downtown. Wanting to avoid arrest, the man complied. When the constable returned the camera a short time later, all photos and video had been deleted.

(With thanks to all)

Earth Hour: Is It Worth It?

Earth Hour, one hour a year when people are encouraged to turn off all lights and appliances in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide, is not worth says one conservationist:

The organizers say that they are providing a way to demonstrate one’s desire to “do something” about global warming. But the reality is that Earth Hour teaches all the wrong lessens, and it actually increases CO₂ emissions. Its vain symbolism reveals exactly what is wrong with today’s feel-good environmentalism.

Earth Hour teaches us that tackling global warming is easy. Yet, by switching off the lights, all we are doing is making it harder to see.

Notice that you have not been asked to switch off anything really inconvenient, like your heating or air-conditioning, television, computer, mobile phone, or any of the myriad technologies that depend on affordable, plentiful energy electricity and make modern life possible. If switching off the lights for one hour per year really were beneficial, why would we not do it for the other 8,759?

Hypothetically, switching off the lights for an hour would cut CO₂ emissions from power plants around the world. But, even if everyone in the entire world cut all residential lighting, and this translated entirely into CO₂ reduction, it would be the equivalent of China pausing its CO₂ emissions for less than four minutes. In fact, Earth Hour will cause emissions to increase.

As the United Kingdom’s National Grid operators have found, a small decline in electricity consumption does not translate into less energy being pumped into the grid, and therefore will not reduce emissions. Moreover, during Earth Hour, any significant drop in electricity demand will entail a reduction in CO₂ emissions during the hour, but it will be offset by the surge from firing up coal or gas stations to restore electricity supplies afterward.

And the cozy candles that many participants will light, which seem so natural and environmentally friendly, are still fossil fuels—and almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs. Using one candle for each switched-off bulb cancels out even the theoretical CO₂ reduction; using two candles means that you emit more CO₂.

Electricity has given humanity huge benefits. Almost 3 billion people still burn dung, twigs, and other traditional fuels indoors to cook and keep warm, generating noxious fumes that kill an estimated 2 million people each year, mostly women and children. Likewise, just 100 years ago, the average American family spent six hours each week during cold months shoveling six tons of coal into the furnace (not to mention cleaning the coal dust from carpets, furniture, curtains, and bedclothes). In the developed world today, electric stoves and heaters have banished indoor air pollution.

Similarly, electricity has allowed us to mechanize much of our world, ending most backbreaking work. The washing machine liberated women from spending endless hours carrying water and beating clothing on scrub boards. The refrigerator made it possible for almost everyone to eat more fruits and vegetables, and to stop eating rotten food, which is the main reason why the most prevalent cancer for men in the United States in 1930, stomach cancer, is the least prevalent now.

Electricity has allowed us to irrigate fields and synthesize fertilizer from air. The light that it powers has enabled us to have active, productive lives past sunset. The electricity that people in rich countries consume is, on average, equivalent to the energy of 56 servants helping them. Even people in Sub-Saharan Africa have electricity equivalent to about three servants. They need more of it, not less.

If environmentalists were truly concerned, they would forgo meaningless gestures and address the real problems facing the natural environment and they would certainly not restrict life-saving and changing inventions that better the lives of others, not restrict or end them. As it stands, Earth Hour is a display and nothing more.

(Thanks)

The Grinch Who Stole Easter

This guy is the freaking limit:

The White House warned Congress that budget uncertainties could nix the annual Easter Egg Roll for kids, which is planned for April 1.
“[B]y using these tickets, guests are acknowledging that this event is subject to cancellation due to funding uncertainty surrounding the Executive Office of the President and other federal agencies,” the White House cautioned, according to two Capitol Hill sources who provided the language. “If cancelled, the event will not be rescheduled.”

A White House official emails this response: "Because we distribute tickets to the Easter Egg Roll far in advance, we alerted all ticket holders that this event is subject to cancellation due to funding uncertainty, including the possibility of a government shutdown. However, we are currently proceeding as planned with the Easter Egg Roll."

That he would even threaten to do this shows one what kind of person he is. He isn't a leader. He is a spoiled narcissistic brat whose pettiness really knows no bounds.

I hope this backfires on him.

(With thanks)

On Monday, A Post

For all your post- Saint Patrick's Day needs.


Are there any Canadians in Canada?

A delegation is going before councillors in Richmond, B.C., to complain about the lack of English on signs in a city where more than half of the population is of Chinese descent.

Two residents are spearheading a campaign to lobby council to instruct businesses to include English on the Chinese-only signs in the city that neighbours Vancouver.

Ann Merdinyan didn't want to speak with media until she presented her case to council Monday, but says it's a serious problem in some areas of the Richmond.

Merdinyan, who has been working on the campaign for two years, says it's a sad issue that doesn't look well for either community.

Richmond Councillor Chak Kwong Au says he’s open to the discussion and thinks there's a need to address the issue, since it has come up before.

He says it's important that all sectors of the community feel comfortable and are not overwhelmed by large Chinese signs that have no English translations.

As far as political multiculturalism goes, an immigrant will lose his former national identity altogether or adhere to a few customs, thus keeping them in a sort of living time capsule. At the end of the day, he will be what the nation requires of him- a functioning citizen of that country- and not simply be in that country. What is going on in Richmond is the latter. There is no excuse for not learning English particularly when ESL classes and lessons have become widely available and often affordable. There is certainly no excuse for creating deliberate divisions culturally, socially and politically. Perhaps it is best one asks immigrants what they are doing here and how they are trying to fit in instead of making demands or setting up walls.


Of course it will antagonise North Korea but anything does:

China warned today that US plans to bolster its missile defense program in the Pacific following North Korea's recent nuclear threats will only antagonize Pyongyang, even as North Korea slammed Washington's "hostile policy" and refused to negotiate its nuclear capacity. ...

"Actions such as strengthening anti-missile [defenses] will intensify antagonism and will not be beneficial to finding a solution for the problem," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. "China hopes the relevant country will proceed on the basis of peace and stability, adopt a responsible attitude and act prudently."

China's comments come in response to Friday's announcement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that the US plans to beef up its missile defense system in Alaska and California. Mr. Hagel specifically cited North Korea's third nuclear test and its "irresponsible and reckless provocations" of recent weeks as reason for the upgrade, which will include 14 new interceptors in Alaska and a new early-warning radar system in Japan.

Not that China really cares what its lapdog does.


Japan wears the big boy pants around here:

Japan has seized aluminium alloy rods which can be used to make nuclear centrifuges from a Singapore-flagged ship which was carrying cargo from North Korea, a government spokesman said Monday.

The five rods were discovered on the ship during its call at Tokyo port last August and were confirmed to be aluminium alloy through tests conducted over the past six months, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

"The aluminum alloy is extremely strong and can be used in centrifuges, that are products related to nuclear development," Suga told a regular news briefing.

The rods had been stored at a private warehouse and the Japanese government ordered the firm Monday to hand them over.

It was the first such handover under a special law passed in 2010 to enable Tokyo to inspect North Korea-related ships suspected of carrying materials that could be used in nuclear and missile programmes.

If you're going to shack up because you think marriage is passe/old-fashioned/a piece of paper/something I'm not doing until mummy and daddy pay for the wedding, then it's not really a "human right" (that someone just handed to you, I might add), is it?

March 18 may have just become the most common anniversary in British Columbia, thanks to a new law that, you're welcome, essentially makes any couple that lives together married.
 

The province's Family Law Act came into effect today and grants all couples that have been in marriage-like relationships for two years the same rights and protections as those who signed on the dotted line.

The Family Law Act encompasses a number of topics, specifically relating to the end of a relationship featuring a child and family violence. Quite notable are the changes to common-law relationships, which state that any couple that splits after two years of cohabitation are eligible for a legal separation, in which assets and debts accrued during the relationship are shared equally.

“For young couples who live together for a couple of years and then live with somebody else for a couple of years, it’s going to be interesting to see if they’re going to start making claims,” Vancouver lawyer Georgialee Lang told the National Post.

Lawyers are urging couples to come to some sort of prenuptial agreement before moving in together. It is yet to be seen if the new law will have an impact on the number of "my lease is ending, what the hell" decisions that are made.

(Sidebar: a lease is also a piece of paper. Walk out on that.)

You're still boyfriend/girlfriend and you know it.


Hillary, do you know where homosexuals can't get married? Benghazi.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R) revealed that survivors of the Benghazi, Libya terrorist attack have been told to keep quiet by the Obama administration. ...

He vowed to write a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to voluntarily release their names, urge members of the House to subpoena the survivors, and hold up the business of the Senate until those survivors go on the record.

“I’ve talked to a couple and their story is chilling,” Sen. Graham said. “They’re scared to death to come forward without some institutional support.”

Ambassador Stevens will never get married.

Satan also has a son:

Last night's installment of The History Channel's The Bible featured a Moroccan actor who bears a passing resemblance to President Barack Obama, or so some online outlets insist.

See you at Easter, guys.


Atheists want to answer a question no one asked:

Sadly, it does appear that comedian Norm Macdonald deleted his tweets. As Twitchy reported, Mr. Macdonald tweeted last night about religion, tolerance, and respect for people of faith. He was attacked by atheists, natch.

Militant atheists are a tine on the trident of the new fundamentalism. Carry on.


Of course they did:

The first is that like the rest of the media, "60 Minutes" refuses to broadcast the Church's basic reasoning behind Church doctrine (what Simon calls "conservative" policies) surrounding same-sex marriage, contraception, chastity, sexuality, and allowing only men to become priests.

How hard could it be to bring on an articulate Catholic to explain these policies? It is a sad fact, though, that the media are almost always reluctant to allow someone smart and articulate to argue against The Narrative.

Secondly, CBS only allows nuns unhappy with the Church any airtime. Nuns perfectly satisfied with the Church are memory-holed as though none exist. Heaven forbid a nun who disagrees with the LCWR is offered a chance to explain why. Can't have that.

Finally, while Simon does report that the Vatican is unhappy with speakers invited to LCWR conferences, he chooses not to report what these speakers actually said.

It's the Vatican. They would be amiss if they didn't attack the only religion that treats women as human beings and equals (yes, equals- try Islam if you think I'm mistaken). The Narrative must be maintained as the new gospel-truth.

What a whackpot cult leftism is.


Ted Cruz (R- Alberta) is awfully fond of Sarah Palin:

"I would not be in the U.S. Senate today if it were not for Governor Palin," Cruz said in gratitude. 

Cruz said Palin, like him, drives the mainstream media "bat-crap crazy" because she is "fearless," "principled," and "courageous" while the mainstream media wants conservatives to "shut up and accept defeat and be timid."

Cruz also simply said, "Sarah Palin picks winners," in reference to Palin's early support of candidates like Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rand Paul (R-KY), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and governors like Nikki Haley (SC) and Susana Martinez (NM), and former Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is now the state's senator.

Palin, referring to Cruz as hailing from "Alaska's little sister state," praised Cruz as a senator who "chews barbed wire and spits out rust."

She urged Americans to send more senators like Cruz to Washington.

 What's not to like?

Stand on guard for thee... and Big Gulps!

And now, how the hell do you steal a bridge?

In a most unusual incident thieves on Monday stole an entire bridge, apparently for its scrap metal, in the western province of Kocaeli.

 

The 22-ton bridge, which was 25 meters long, was in a village in Kocaeli's Gölçük district and was regularly used by villagers to cross a creek to reach their orchards. The villagers were astonished to discover the disappearance of the bridge on Monday morning as they were making their way to the orchards and immediately alerted the police.

Police arrived at the scene and determined that the bridge had been cut apart and loaded onto a truck by the thieves. They believe the bridge was stolen for scrap metal. Its worth was an estimated TL 20,000. 

A relieving priest once told a story about thieves who stole two large wooden doors from a church in India. He decided to bring closure to the matter during a sermon. He mentioned the crime and told his parish that he understood if the guilty parties stole the doors for food but would be angry if they stole the doors for liquor. A woman stood up and pointed at another woman crying out that her husband committed the crime.

Needless to say, he did not stick around after Mass.