Sunday Post

Stephen Harper proposes a ban on travelling to terrorist hot zones:

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said today if re-elected he will introduce legislation that will make it a criminal offence for Canadians to travel to parts of the world under the control of extremist groups. 

"A re-elected Conservative government will designate travel to places that are ground zero for terrorist activity a criminal offence," Harper said Sunday during a security-themed campaign stop in the Ottawa riding of West-Nepean, during which he also faced renewed questions about his role in the Mike Duffy scandal. 

"We are talking about the most dangerous places on earth, where governance is nonexistent and violence is widespread and brutal." 

The proposed law would apply to certain "declared areas" Harper said, though he did not name any specific locations. A document provided to the media by the party said parts of Syria and Iraq would "likely" be among the first areas to be subject to the travel ban. 

Similar laws exist in Australia, which has designated parts of Iraq and Syria as no-travel zones.

While it might sound like political hay-making good riddance to bad rubbish, one must remember that these people are travelling just so they can rape children with impunity.

One wonders what they were doing in Canada in the first place.

Also: Trudeau nay-says Harper's proposal simply because Harper said it.

Moron.


Linda McQuaig, who is running for the NDP, believes that development of the oil sands would be necessary in order to meet some carbon emissions bilge:

Linda McQuaig, a well-known author and the NDP candidate for the riding of Toronto Centre, told a CBC television panel discussion on Friday that for Canada to meet its climate change targets, "a lot of the oilsands oil may have to stay in the ground."

Perhaps Miss McQuaig forgets that oil is needed to fuel vehicles.

Dilithium chambers haven't been invented yet.

Americans, even those who voted twice for an Islamist-supporting narcissist, know a bad deal when they see one:

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows that the American public rejects U.S. President Barack Obama’s Iran deal by more than two-to-one. This is astonishing. The public generally gives the president deference on major treaties. Just a few weeks ago, a majority supported the deal.

What happened? People learned what’s in it. ...

Inspections? Everyone now knows that “anytime, anywhere” — indispensable for a clandestine program in a country twice the size of Texas with a long history of hiding and cheating — has been changed to, “You’ve got 24 days and then we’re coming in for a surprise visit.” New York restaurants, observed comedian Jackie Mason, get more intrusive inspections than the Iranian nuclear program.

Snapback sanctions? Everyone knows that once the international sanctions are lifted, they are never coming back. Moreover, consider the illogic of President Obama’s argument. The theme of his American University (AU) speech Wednesday was that the only alternative to what he brought back from Vienna is war, because sanctions — even the more severe sanctions that Congress has been demanding — will never deter the Iranians. But if sanctions don’t work, how can you argue that the Iranians will now be deterred from cheating by the threat of … sanctions? Snapback sanctions, mind you, that will inevitably be weaker and more loophole-ridden than the existing ones.

And then came news of the secret side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These concern past nuclear activity and inspections of the Parchin military facility where Iran is suspected of having tested nuclear detonation devices.

We don’t know what’s in these side deals. And we will never know, says the administration. It’s “standard practice,” you see, for such IAEA agreements to remain secret.

Well, this treaty is not standard practice. It’s the most important treaty of our time. Yet, Congress is asked to ratify this “historic diplomatic breakthrough” (Obama’s words), while being denied access to the heart of the inspection regime.

"Lone wolves" in Mali?

Jihadists stormed two hotels in central Mali on Friday, seizing at least six hostages and killing three Malian soldiers and a U.N. peacekeeper in one of the most brazen attacks in months, defence officials said.

The Islamic militants assaulted one hotel in the town of Sevare, and then after an exchange of gunfire moved on to the Hotel Byblos next door where they grabbed between six and 10 people, said Lt. Col. Diarran Kone.

South Koreans exploit sell North Korean slave labour goods:

A shop in South Korea's capital specializing in goods made in the North has run nearly $140,000 through its tills in just three months of business, helping dispel the notion that products from the impoverished state are shoddy and undesirable.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex Shop opened in May showcasing North Korea and the skills of its workers, to present the country as a viable business partner to the prosperous South.

Ahem:

In February, Pyongyang announced a minimum “wage” increase of $4-per-month-per-worker. Seoul refused to accept the increase, told South Korean firms not to pay it, and threatened those that did with an unspecified “corresponding punishment.” For its part, Pyongyang threatened those that didn’t pay with a 15% “arrears charge.” Some of the South Korean firms (49 out of 124) defied their own government and paid anyway. 

A failed economic venture and a human-rights disaster is still a failed economic venture and a human-rights disaster no matter what department store you put it in.

(Kamsahamnida)


And now, on this, the seventieth anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, the atomic straw that broke the militaristic Japanese's back, here is a compilation of past posts with some stark photos of the damage the bomb had done but also of a city that rose from the ashes:

Sixty-Nine Years.

August 9th (Also...)

Redux.

August 6th.

Some Quick Thoughts.

Next week will mark the seventieth anniversary of V-J Day, the liberation of Korea and India's independence, all on the Feast of the Assumption, too.

Who says things don't happen for a reason?