For A Monday

Oh, what a lovely day....


The premier of Ontario has placed a disastrous cap-and-trade tax on the province:

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Monday she’s going to price industrial carbon dioxide emissions through a cap-and-trade market, without telling us the price.

She said it would be irresponsible to estimate how much more we’re all going to have to pay for virtually all goods and services, because the Liberals haven’t yet designed their cap-and-trade system.

This is very hard to believe.

The Liberals have been planning cap-and-trade for seven years.

It’s true they can’t come up with an exact price, because it depends on how quickly they plan to reduce emissions and what the market price of a carbon credit will be (more on that in a moment).

But for Wynne to claim she has no idea of the cost is absurd.

For heaven’s sake, someone in her government told the Globe and Mail recently the Liberals expect increased government revenues of up to $2 billion annually.

Don’t be fooled into thinking the one added cost the Liberals provided — about three cents more per litre of gas — is either accurate, or the only cost hike we’ll face, or that it will stay at three cents.

Fossil fuel energy, produced by burning oil, natural gas and coal, is responsible for modern civilization.

Industrialized societies like ours use it to grow, manufacture, create, produce, power and transport virtually all goods and services.

That’s why cap-and-trade increases the price of virtually everything, as opposed to a carbon tax which increases the tax on almost everything.

Also:

And:




(Paws up)


Some aging cow and Marco Rubio have declared that they will run for president:

Lines stretch around the block as people are spending hours waiting outside the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, where Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will announce he is running for President at 6:00 p.m. ET Monday.

Many in attendance have supported Rubio since even before his national headline-making 2010 Senate race, back when he was Speaker of the Florida House and a state representative; some even before he entered politics. There is a definite sense of homecoming and celebration. The Cuban-American community is extremely proud that one of its own is running for the highest office in the land, and Florida Republicans are excited that their state will have two major presidential contenders, Rubio and (it’s assumed) former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Wow! Look at that young guy unencumbered by tons of scandals running for president!


Hey- remember when people said that removing sanctions from Iran was no big deal?

President Vladimir Putin on Monday sanctioned the delivery of a highly capable Russian air defence missile system to Iran, a game changer move that would significantly bolster the Islamic republic's military capability and fuel Israel's concerns.

Also:

Ukraine's military accused pro-Russian rebels on Monday of using heavy weapons that were meant to have been withdrawn under a ceasefire deal, after one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and six wounded in rebel-held territories.

With fighting intensifying once more, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were due to meet in Berlin later on Monday to discuss the next steps in implementing a ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February.

"The rebels have not stopped firing at Ukrainian positions ... Over the past day, the enemy has used weapons banned under the Minsk agreements," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said in a televised briefing.

Russia never fails to disappoint:

A gallery in central Russia has cancelled an exhibition of World War Two images by US and British photographers, sparking claims that the event was pulled for political reasons.

Yekaterinburg's House of Metenkov said the closure was a "technical" matter.

Russians would have had a chance to see 150 images from war episodes less familiar to them, such as the Battle of Britain and 1944 Normandy landings.

Stark photos from Nazi concentration camps were to be shown too. 

The exhibition had been titled "Triumph and Tragedy: allies in the Second World War".  

(Sidebar: but not really.)



What monitoring?

Beefing up international monitoring of Iran's nuclear work could become the biggest stumbling block to a final accord between Tehran and major powers, despite a preliminary deal reached last week.

As part of that deal, Iran and the powers agreed that United Nations inspectors would have "enhanced" access to remaining nuclear activity in Iran, where they already monitor key sites. 

But details on exactly what kind of access the inspectors will have were left for the final stage of talks, posing a major challenge for negotiators on a complex and logistically challenging issue that is highly delicate for Iran's leaders.

ISIS murdered ten doctors who refused to treat their wounded:

Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq have savagely executed 10 doctors who refused to treat wounded members of the terrorist organisation. 

Bangladesh has hanged a war criminal:

Bangladesh hanged Islamist opposition leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman on Saturday for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, a move met with an angry reaction from his supporters who called for a protest strike.

Kamaruzzaman, 63, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide and torture of civilians during the war.

It's explosive no matter who says it:

Pope Francis on Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians by calling the massacre by Ottoman Turks "the first genocide of the 20th century" and urging the international community to recognize it as such. Turkey immediately responded by recalling its ambassador and accusing Francis of spreading hatred and "unfounded claims."

Francis issued the pronouncement during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica commemorating the centenary that was attended by Armenian church leaders and President Serge Sarkisian, who praised the pope for calling a spade a spade and "delivering a powerful message to the international community."

"The words of the leader of a church with 1 billion followers cannot but have a strong impact," he told The Associated Press.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey, however, denies a genocide took place. It has insisted that the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Francis defended his words by saying it was his duty to honour the memory of the innocent men, women and children who were "senselessly" murdered by Ottoman Turks.

"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," he said.

He said similar massacres are under way today against Christians who because of their faith are "publicly and ruthlessly put to death — decapitated, crucified, burned alive — or forced to leave their homeland," a reference to the Islamic State group's assault against Christians in Iraq and Syria.

 

According to Turkey, this never happened.

Why Celebrity Apartheid is important:

Gwyneth Paltrow is slashing her food budget to raise awareness about hunger. But sometimes even the best intentions are met with criticism, eye rolls and sarcasm.

Last week, the Oscar winner announced that she had accepted The Food Bank for New York City challenge to live on food stamps for one week, with a grocery budget of $29 or about $1.38 per meal.

 
When this wealthy scion of  Hollywood parents is finished with this publicity stunt, what happens to those who are truly struggling? Do they feel better about themselves because she does?


They're not worried because they're stupid:

Asked how they expect to fare compared with their parents’ generation, most Canadians aged 18 to 35 surveyed by Abacus were upbeat. Less than one-quarter of them said they believe their age cohort will fail to live up to their parents’ overall level of happiness or standard of living. Nearly half, 46 per cent, expect their own generation’s standard of living to rise above that of their mothers and fathers, while about a third, 32 per cent, anticipate roughly matching their parents’ living standards.

Ask them how long they expect public sector jobs to keep getting the big bucks.


And now, the movie one has long been waiting for:

Also making an appearance: Thomas the Tank Engine. That’s right, your favorite choo-choo train from childhood throws down with Ant-Man in a climactic rumble. Apparently Yellowjacket doesn’t know who he’s messing with.