But Wait! There's More!

But... but... snow!

On Monday morning, forecasts warned of a “crippling” and “historic” storm due to blanket New York City and northern New Jersey with up to 36 inches (91cm) of snow. 

By early Tuesday morning, just 6.3 inches (16cm) of snow covered Central Park, with only about 2 more inches on the way, the National Weather Service reported. In New Jersey, where meteorologists predicted an 18-inch (45cm) dump of snow, only 3 inches (7.5cm) of snow had fallen. 

Gary Szatkowski, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s office in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, was quick to apologize for the “big forecast miss” on Twitter.

Even if Prime Minister Harper did sent military personnel to fight ISIS, I can't see why that would be a bad thing:

We probably shouldn’t have been surprised that Canadian soldiers would end up exchanging fire with Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

The question is, was the government being naive or disingenuous when it said last fall that Canada’s mission there would not put them in danger on the front line (except, of course, the pilots flying CF-18s on bombing missions)? ...

Canadian snipers in the first instance apparently “neutralized” ISIS mortar and machine-gun fire on Canadian troops working with Iraqi soldiers, it was revealed last week. A fresh briefing Monday disclosed two more incidents where Canadians fired back after being fired upon.

The military and the government explained the soldiers’ presence on the front line as an evolution, but opposition critics quickly denounced it as “mission creep,” accusing the Tories of misleading Parliament and Canadians.

Military experts say the development should come as no surprise, given the uncertain nature of the Iraqi situation.

The popular press has completely ignored some rather pertinent bits of information once more.


I believe I've said something like this before:

According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing makes up around 11% of Canada's economy. Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction combined make up about 8.5% of the economy. The biggest chunk of the economy is real estate, rental and leasing, weighing in at an impressive 13% of GDP. ...

But Justin's analysis falls down in an even more fundamental way than that. He fails to understand that the government doesn't direct the oil and gas industry. Individual business people do that within a regulatory environment established by the government. They risk their own money, build companies and employ hundreds of thousands of people at wages well above the national average.

The oil and gas they produce fuels our cars, warms our homes and produces enormous revenues for the government which it uses to pay for things like pensions and health care. Isn't that a good thing?

The last time the government directed oil and gas development was under his father Pierre, who nationalized an oil company and who gave us the National Energy Program. That in turn led to record bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment, but look at me being all negative.

Read the whole thing.

Trudeau does not get it, nor does he want to. Any carbon tax is a drain on the very classes he says he will defend.



Ukraine has intercepted conversations that prove that Russian-backed militants are responsible for civilian deaths:

Ukraine's president said Sunday that intercepted radio and telephone conversations prove that Russia-backed separatists were responsible for firing the rockets that pounded the southeastern city of Mariupol and killed at least 30 people. ...

Separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko initially announced that his forces had begun an offensive on the government-controlled city of Mariupol. But after the extent of civilian casualties became known, he backtracked and blamed Ukrainian forces for Saturday's carnage.

No, women of South Korea, you can't have it all:

A shortage of dependable childcare is derailing the careers of hundreds of thousands of women in South Korea, where management ranks are dominated by men and a patriarchal society idealizes stay-at-home moms.

(Sidebar: this is a country that has a female president. Carry on.)

The low rate of female participation in the workforce - just 56 percent of working-age women as of 2013 - is an increasingly urgent problem in the world's fastest-aging developed country, where working-age population is set to decline from next year.

Japan also has a graying population.


Speaking of Japan:

South Korea and China warned Japan on Tuesday not to backtrack on its apology issued 20 years ago over its wartime past when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

I have no idea why Japan persists in this immoral and fruitless refusal to apologise for once and for all. When Chinese-backed North Korea really goes off the rails, it will need the support of South Korea and other Asian nations it has pi$$ed off in the past.

Dammit, Abe! Don't screw this up for everybody!

Speaking of North Korea:

One sports a Christian Dior handbag and favors Western clothes. The other carries a notebook and wears dark uniforms. These fashion opposites are the two most influential women in North Korea. 

While Kim Jong Un’s wife Ri Sol Ju and younger sister Kim Yo Jong are currently allies in sustaining one of the world’s most reclusive leaders, their overlapping influence makes them potential rivals in a regime where family ties aren’t strong enough to protect against Kim’s penchant for purges.

(Sidebar: note the shallow way in which this article initially starts.Why bring up Kim's barbarity at all?)


In a country that has a one-child policy it brutally enforces, sex education is the last thing it needs:

Health authorities say that 62% of the 13 million abortions carried out each year are performed on women aged between 20 and 29, most of whom are single, the China Daily reports.

The report adds that almost 20% of these women have had more than one abortion. ...

Guo Min, a health expert from a non-governmental organisation, tells the paper that most of these women are not well educated and have never received any sex education.

Echoing similar views, the China Youth Daily observes that the younger generation is more open, but the lack of sex education leads them to "display risky behaviour". ...

Experts are also concerned about the "misleading" advertisements that play down risks of abortions.

The Tianjin Daily criticises the "irresponsible advertisements" for claiming that such medical procedures are "quick, painless and risk-free", leading to reckless decision-making.

(Sidebar: wait- does one mean to say that abortions are not at all safe?)


Speaking of grooming sex education:

Ontario’s new sex curriculum will provide students starting in Grade 1 with the basic building blocks of consent, Premier Kathleen Wynne says.

Perhaps Premier Wynne would like to illuminate what consent was allegedly given by the youngsters to her friend, colleague and collaborator Benjamin Levin (who will plead guilty to some of the charges against him)?

Reminder: Ontario Liberal voters put her in office.