Monday, September 21, 2015

Monday Post

The summer wanes...

(sigh)


In a way, it should be no surprise that Justin Trudeau said this:

Canadian Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said on Sunday his party would scrap a program to buy advanced F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin Corp if it wins power in the Oct. 19 federal election.

Coming from a guy who promised to withdraw from liquidating ISIS, this is the sort of empty election promise that appeals to fan-girls and is not a serious criticism of a new aircraft.

Even if ISIS was destroyed (not contained- destroyed), in order for Canada to be a major global player, it needs serious armaments.

No one takes pea-shooters seriously.

Also: the Justin Trudeau interview no one wants you to see.



Oh. Maybe he meant to do that:

The brother of an aboriginal protester shot dead by police 20 years ago has been injured while protesting a settlement deal for lands in southwestern Ontario that were appropriated by the federal government during the Second World War.

Witnesses say Pierre George was injured when he accidentally set himself ablaze while pouring gasoline on a fire that had been set by the protesters to get the attention of people marching to celebrate the return of Camp Ipperwash. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.


Israel and Russia talk about Syria:

Israel and Russia agreed on Monday to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Moscow.

Recent Russian reinforcements for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which regional sources say include warplanes and anti-aircraft systems, worry Israel, whose jets have on occasion bombed the neighboring Arab country to foil suspected handovers of advanced arms to Assad's Lebanese guerrilla ally Hezbollah.

Briefing Israeli reporters after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu said he had come with the goal of "prevent(ing) misunderstandings between IDF (Israel Defense Force) units and Russian forces" in Syria, where Assad is fighting Islamist-dominated insurgents in a civil war.

Netanyahu should trust Putin as an adder fanged. 




In a 241-187 vote on Friday, members of the United States House of Representatives voted to freeze funding for Planned Parenthood for one year, following months of political debate surrounding information revealed in a series of undercover videos on the abortion provider.

Why not forever?



That's nice but if Ontario's experience has taught anyone anything (and it clearly hasn't), the "green" industry is a boondoggle at best:

Climate change is a divisive issue.

Fossil fuel fans tend to deny it exists. Supporters of alternative solar and wind energy shout that the world will end if humanity doesn’t change course.

The stakes are high. Confrontation doesn’t appear to be helping.

So, why not just side-step it?

From the counter-intuitive science desk comes an intriguing new study out of UC Berkeley.
Researchers say the best way to move forward may be to stop cracking down so hard on carbon emissions, and hugely step up investment in clean alternatives instead.

New technologies and discoveries are made all the time. Putting more money into expensive, ineffective and wasteful projects is not going to conserve the environment or save a the consumer money while giving him or her essential power.



Pope Francis subtly pokes at communism while in Cuba:

As Cubans finally face the prospects of calmer relationships and greater ease of communication and commerce with the United States, Pope Francis told the Cuban people that love and service, not anyone's ideology, are the keys to their happiness.

"We do not serve ideas, we serve people," the pope told hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Havana's Revolution Square for Mass Sept. 20.
 
(Sidebar: I don't know. Saint John Paul II would have had the Castros spitting up blood.)

It's easy to accuse Pope Francis of being utterly silent, useless or even complicit (as people who have never read anything he said often do) but he has been fulfilling his mandate as a man of the cloth speaking out against the atrocities committed against Christians in Syria and Iraq and welcoming the only refugees who matter.

Even if his views on "climate change" are skewed.



And now, twenty-two outlawed baby names. Because naming your baby something stupid is abuse:

3. ANAL

New Zealand has no time for anyone’s bizarre baby-naming shenanigans. Parents have to get all potential names approved by the government, and if officials deem something too wacky, it gets added to the ever-growing list of banned names. There were many questionable entries on the list they released in 2013, “Anal” being a particularly horrifying offender.



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