But Wait! There's More!

A whole lot more...


Baffling: the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings jet that crashed into the French Alps apparently flew the plane into the side of the mountains killing all aboard:

Ignoring the captain's frantic pounding on the door, the co-pilot of the Germanwings jet barricaded himself inside the cockpit and deliberately rammed the plane full speed into the French Alps as passengers screamed in terror, a prosecutor said Thursday.

In a split second, all 150 people aboard were dead.

Andreas Lubitz's "intention (was) to destroy this plane," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said, laying out the horrifying conclusions French investigators reached after listening to the final minutes of Tuesday's Flight 9525 from the plane's black box voice data recorder.

Saudi Arabia, fearful of an unstable Islamist state mirroring its relatively stable Islamist state, has launched air strikes in Yemen (the country Obama declared victory in):

The turmoil in Yemen grew into a regional conflict Thursday, with Saudi Arabia and its allies bombing Shiite rebels allied with Iran, while Egyptian officials said a ground assault will follow the airstrikes.

Iran denounced the Saudi-led air campaign, saying it "considers this action a dangerous step," and oil prices jumped in New York and London after the offensive.

The military action turned impoverished and chaotic Yemen into a new front in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Obama has made overtures to both Saudi Arabia and Iran. Either he knows no loyalty and is hedging his bets or has not thought his alliances through.


Well, when one lives in northern communities and doesn't find sources of vitamin D, a diagnosis of rickets shouldn't be a surprise:

Rates of rickets continue to rise among aboriginal children in the North, a trend that has researchers increasingly concerned.

Dr. Leanne Ward, who works with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, did a 2007 study examining rates of rickets in aboriginal children in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut and Alaska between the ages of one and two.

The study found incidences of rickets that were six to 12 times higher than the rest of Canada, a trend that Ward says hasn't changed.

"We are all very concerned that we are seeing rickets in 2015," says Ward. "This is a global health problem we shouldn't be seeing anymore."  

She says public health's efforts to stop the resurgence is an "abysmal failure."

Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D. It is categorized as a "rare disease" in developed countries, meaning that it affects less than one in 200,000 people on average. It can lead to bone, muscle and teeth development issues and an increased possibility of fractures.

"Infants can present in the first year of life, with seizures," says Ward. "They'll often show up in the emergency room. Older children will present with fractures, significant deformity of the lower limbs, so they have a waddling gait."

Ward says rickets isn't just caused by a lack of sunlight. She blames poor diets, and the lack of access to rich in vitamin D "country foods" such as char and caribou for the increased instances of the disease in the Northern aboriginal population.

The Ontario provincial government is planning on giving lower-income households hydro rebates:

The provincial government is unveiling a plan to give hydro rebates to low-income households. 

Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli will announce the initiative Thursday morning in Toronto.

I'm sure there's a rub in here somewhere.

Ineligible households will see their bills rise slightly – less than one dollar a month – to fund the program. 

There it is.

This is the government Ontario Liberal voters want.


Quibble: PEGIDA is not anti-immigrant:

A Europe-based anti-Islam, anti-immigration group called PEGIDA is making its Quebec debut this weekend — and local politicians and community members want to tell the group its views aren't welcome in Montreal.

Also:

Hundreds gathered in front of the National Assembly to protest against the Couillard government's budget, which was tabled late this afternoon.​

The student association ASSÉ said eight buses filled with students have travelled from Montreal for the demonstration.

ASSÉ spokesperson Camille Godbout said the Liberals have made several cuts to the education sector since taking power in 2013.

 
Good luck with this voters block, Liberals.