Leap Year Post

...for the freak day of the Gregorian calendar...


I'm sure this was all a misunderstanding that can be resolved with more trade:

Police have charged four people and two Canadian companies over their alleged roles in exporting controlled goods and technologies to China that could enhance that country’s satellite cameras.

North Korea parades around an allegedly sorrowful prisoner in front of cameras and, for some reason, Kim Jong-Un is not considered tiresome for this display of bullying:

 North Korea presented a detained American student before the media on Monday in Pyongyang, where he tearfully apologized for attempting to steal a political banner — at the behest, he said, of a member of a church back home who wanted it as a "trophy" — from a staff-only section of the hotel where he had been staying.

 Yes, this guy is clearly nutters but so is the guy who lobs missiles in the East Sea.




Uh-oh:

The chief executive of SodaStream International Ltd. says he has been forced to lay off hundreds of Palestinian workers after a factory was targeted by an international boycott movement and moved from the West Bank into Israel.

Now what are those Palestinians going to do?

Thanks, crazy anti-Semites.



Justin Trudeau called prioritising Christians and Yazidis "disgusting":

A Yazidi teenager who spent months in ISIS captivity has written a book describing her experience and her time as a sex slave for the terrorist group. ...

ISIS allows its fighters to take Yazidi women and girls as sex slaves and "wives." Shirin was married off nine times, once to a 60-year-old man who impregnated her, she wrote. The last man she was "married" to helped her escape to Germany.

After ISIS captured Shirin, she was taken to a hideout with other women where they were "hit, attacked, raped by men high on drugs," and "left to starve and not given anything to drink," she wrote.

Again - who vets these people?

Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev passed the US citizenship test just a few months before he helped carry out the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured over 260, according to heavily redacted Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by the Boston Globe.

The documents, released to the Globe under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that Mr. Tsarnaev, passed the test with only one incorrect answer, and that he also swore his allegiance to the United States and denied any links to terrorism.

Tsarnaev was killed in a firefight with law enforcement days after the April 15, 2013 bombings. He carried out the attacks, which killed three people and injured over 260, with his younger brother Dzhokhar. The younger Tsarnaev was arrested on April 19, and was sentenced to death last May.

The documents, while heavily redacted, have spurred further questions over whether immigration officials missed any potential warning signs during the application process. Tsarnaev began the process after a 178-day trip to his native Russia that federal investigators believe may have helped radicalize him, a trip that he disclosed to immigrations officials, according to the Globe. He also disclosed a 2009 arrest for assaulting a former girlfriend, and that he wanted to change his name to "Muaz," an early Islamic scholar – a move that Russian officials had warned was a sign of radicalization.

But I thought these people were victims:

Makeshift huts went up in flames on Monday in an angry backlash as workers, guarded by scores of French police, began pulling down tents and shelters in the sprawling migrant camp in Calais.

Police lobbed tear gas in a brief clash with pro-migrant activists and others throwing projectiles at officers forming a security cordon to protect the tear-down operation.

The UN hears how its peacekeepers raped children:

The neighborhood is a patchwork of low-slung buildings scorched and looted at the height of the civil war, a place where the United Nations was supposed to come to the rescue. But in a number of homes, women and girls are raising babies they say are the children of UN troops who abused or exploited them.

“Peacekeeper babies,” the United Nations calls such infants.

“A horrible thing,” says an elfin 14-year-old girl, who describes how a Burundian soldier dragged her into his barracks and raped her, leaving her pregnant with the baby boy she now cradles uncomfortably.

The allegations come amid one of the biggest scandals to plague the United Nations in years. Since the UN peacekeeping mission here began in 2014, its employees have been formally accused of sexually abusing or exploiting 42 local civilians, most of them underage girls.

Withdraw from this wretched organisation today.

Good:

A judge has granted BC Hydro an injunction to remove people protesting the Site C dam project at a tent camp near Fort St. John.

The ruling means demonstrators have no right to obstruct the hydroelectric project, which has regulatory approval from both the federal and provincial governments.

It doesn't cost nothing. That money comes from cash-strapped taxpayers:

 Nothing — well, nothing more than the $1.3 billion a year the government already spends on grants for post-secondary students. This straightforward option replaces a bunch of previous grants — some applied to Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) applications, and some were offered as rebates or as tax cuts.

Calling it a new name doesn't mean that it is cheaper.

A "smidge" you say:

Young transgender children allowed to live openly as the gender they identify with fared as well psychologically as other kids in a small study that suggests parental support may be the key.

Rates of depression and anxiety were equal in the study, which compared 73 transgender kids aged 3 to 12 with 73 nontransgender youngsters. The trans kids also fared as well on both measures as a group of their nontransgender siblings.

Rates of anxiety among trans kids were “a smidge higher” than national averages for children of the same age, but otherwise they matched national norms, said lead author Kristina Olson, an associate psychology professor at the University of Washington.

Far be it for me to challenge this clearly comprehensive study but.... 

A whopping 41% of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide sometime in their lives, nearly nine times the national average, according to a sweeping survey released three years ago.

Carry on.

And now, the question that has plagued us for ages:

So did Voyager use all of their torpedoes, or did they have a few left at the end of the show? One fan was determined to find out.

It could have used some here.

Friday Freakout

Yesssss.....


Will the Ontario government fund this?

College is a time to grow as an adult and prepare yourself academically for success in the real world, but there are some things that campus life just can’t teach you. ....

Leaving college means you no longer have the reliable fallback plan of grabbing dinner in the dining hall. Making a mean grilled cheese can come in handy, and of course there are delivery services that render kitchens obsolete, but being able to enter a grocery store and leave with more than chips, salsa, and plastic cups is a good skill to have. Cooking can be fun and easy—just start with simple, straightforward dishes and work your way up to more elaborate cuisine as you get more comfortable in the kitchen.

Let your mind be blown:

And now, your leap-year cocktail. Enjoy.

 

For A Friday

Lots to talk about...


The average cost of full-time four-year post-secondary education is more than $66,000.  If, for example, the grossly-indebted Ontario government were to fund 135,000 students, the cost would be $8910000000.

How many cartons of cigarettes and bottles of wine could ever pay for that?



Budgets don't just balance themselves.


No wonder why the government wants to off the elderly and children for hospital beds.




New Brunswick aboriginal activists vow to continue opposing fracking:

People involved in the Kent County anti-fracking protests of 2013 were watching the announcement of Friday's shale gas report closely.

Dozens of people from First Nations and nearby communities in Kent County took part in barricades to block exploration equipment in the area.

It culminated in a showdown that saw five police vehicles burned, 40 people arrested, others pepper-sprayed, and some shot at with non-lethal bullets by RCMP. ...

Ron Tremblay, Chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council was in Fredericton for the release of the report.

"We have a declaration that we put forward protecting Mother Earth, the water and the air and we're very very firm," said Tremblay. "If there's any way that she'll be damaged along with the water and the air we cannot support that."

Yes, about that:

The study, more than four years in the making, said the EPA has found no signs of “widespread, systemic” drinking water pollution from hydraulic fracturing. That conclusion dramatically runs afoul of one of the great green crusades of the past half-decade, which has portrayed the oil- and gas-extraction technique as a creator of fouled drinking water wells and flame-shooting faucets.

 

Oh, dear. The Narrative.

Also in New Brunswick: squatters stay until forced to leave:

Syrian refugees settling in Moncton will now be moving temporarily into hotels instead of apartments as the city struggles to find enough apartments to house the larger families fleeing the war-torn country.

Have fun paying for this, O Broke Province of New Brunswick.

By the way, they wouldn't have left if the powers-that-be in the West liquidated ISIS on sight or if Saudi Arabia took them in.

But, you know, terrorism.


Speaking of terrorism....



If even the bovine masses who voted the Liberals in cannot see that this is a ploy to build voters bases for them, then I just don't know what to say. Citizenship is not a right but a privilege. Why should the country be crammed to the rafters with would-be terrorists and other emotional retards rather than people who have worked long and hard to be a part of a fraternity where bloodlines, castes and sects cease being important and others are embraced for their willingness to be Canadian?


By the way, this soon-to-be repealed law refers only to those who hold dual citizenship or who have become convenient Canadians.




Does CBC actually investigate these "hate crimes" that only Muslims witness or is it just me?

Incidents of anti-Muslim hate crimes are on the rise, according to the Canadian Arab Federation. Since the Paris attacks in November, there's been a sharp spike — enough that the National Council of Canadian Muslims created an online map to track such incidents.

Oh, yeah. The Narrative.

Mid-Week Post

Lousy Smarch weather....

In the bleak mid-winter....


A drunk driver who killed three children and their grandfather apologises in open court:

A drunk driver who killed three children and their grandfather in a horrific crash told the grieving family Wednesday that he wished he could erase his "inexcusable" actions, but his apology was rejected by the children's parents.

Marco Muzzo, 29, faced a packed courtroom as he expressed the sorrow and regret he said have been consuming him since the Sept. 27 tragedy in Vaughan, Ont.

"I am tortured by the grief and the pain that I have caused the entire family," he said. "I will forever be haunted by the reality of what I have done. I am truly sorry."

His voice trembling at times, Muzzo acknowledged that his words could bring no consolation to those whose lives have been irreparably harmed by his behaviour.

But he vowed to work to make amends by educating others on the dangers of drunk driving.

"I will spend the rest of my life attempting to atone for my conduct," he said.

Muzzo pleaded guilty earlier this month to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

Nine-year-old Daniel Neville-Lake, his five-year-old brother Harrison, their two-year-old sister Milly, and the children's 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, died after the van they were in was hit by an SUV.

Jennifer and Edward Neville-Lake, whose family was decimated in the crash, left the room as Muzzo took the stand and did not return until he was back in the prisoner's box.

Outside court, Jennifer Neville-Lake said the couple had no interest in what Muzzo had to say and questioned the sincerity of his remorse.

In the end, she said, whether or not Muzzo is sorry is "irrelevant," since nothing can bring back their loved ones, she said.

 No one wants to hear your apologies, party-boy.




Well, thank God a gun wasn't used:

Eight people were injured and a female student was in custody after a stabbing at a Canadian high school east of Toronto, police said on Tuesday.

One of the people had serious but not life-threatening injuries, while the others had minor injuries, Durham Regional Police said in a series of posts on Twitter.

The Federal Court of Appeal has allowed a Nazi executioner to stay in Canada:

The federal government has hit another roadblock in its decades-long effort to strip Canadian citizenship from a now 92-year-old man who was once a member of a brutal Nazi death squad.

In its decision, the Federal Court of Appeal set aside a ruling against Helmut Oberlander and ordered the government to take another look at the case.

Oberlander, an ethnic German born in Ukraine, has argued he had no choice when German forces conscripted him at age 17 in 1941 to serve as an interpreter in Einsatzkommando 10a. The unit was part of a force responsible for killing more than two million people. Most were civilians, and most were Jewish.

"The appellant was entitled to a determination of the extent to which he made a significant and knowing contribution to the crime or criminal purpose of the Ek 10a," the Federal Court of Appeal said in its recent decision.

"Only then could a reasonable determination be made as to whether whatever harm he faced was more serious than the harm inflicted on others through his complicity."

In making its decision, the court noted the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled that individuals cannot be held liable for a group's crimes only because they associated with the group or passively acquiesced to its criminal purpose.

Oberlander, who immigrated to Canada with his wife in 1954 and raised two daughters, became a citizen in 1960 and ran a construction business in Kitchener, Ont. The government first began trying to strip him of his citizenship in 1995, prompting a hotly contested and protracted court battle.

We have a legal system, not a justice one.




Ontario sells any electricity to Quebec and the US at a loss:

CS Wind Canada is laying off 51 employees at its manufacturing facility in Windsor, Ont., with the company saying there isn't enough work to maintain current operations.

Remember - budgets balance themselves:

Actually, there is another whammy that has already hit small-business owners without sufficient comment: the Trudeau four-point hike in the top personal income tax rates. While Trudeau promises to deliver Harper’s proposed small-business corporate rate cut from 11 to nine per cent on up to $500,000 in profits, he has already raised 2016 personal taxes on profits in excess of $200,000 derived by owners from their corporations.

Also:

Premier Kathleen Wynne revealed some of the impacts on consumers Wednesday, such as an increase of about 4.3 cents a litre on gas and about $5 more per month on residential natural gas, before the legislation enabling cap-and-trade was to be introduced.

Ontario Liberal voters wanted this.




But... but... I thought he loved Canada!

Filmmaker Michael Moore took some time out of his busy schedule to trash talk Toronto on Wednesday, but it turns out his claims are mostly garbage.

The Oscar-winning director, whose new documentary Where to Invade Next premieres Friday, told the Canadian Press that Torontonians were at least partially to blame for the water crisis in his hometown of Flint, Mich. ...

(Sidebar: Davison, Michigan, actually.)

City officials were quick to contest Moore’s claim, noting Toronto hasn’t trucked trash to Michigan since 2010, after it bought the Green Lane landfill near London, Ont.

“We can confirm that any city-managed garbage or garbage received at city-run transfer stations is not going to Michigan,” said Derek Angove, Toronto’s director of waste management.

Even when Toronto did send its trash south of the border, it was sent to a landfill in Sumpter Township, 130 kilometres south of Flint.

If only he would fade into irrelevance.




Well, that's one life-saving measure:

A baby born prematurely after his mother went into silent labour was kept alive in a sandwich bag.

This amazing photo shows little Isaac Derwent in the plastic bag before he was moved to an incubator. ...

Isaac was born ten weeks early at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and weighted just 3lb 11oz. Much to his mother’s confusion, doctors wrapped him in the sandwich bag after he was born.

He has made a full recovery.

“Straight after being born Isaac was put into a plastic bag and the doctors said the idea behind that was to regulate his body temperature,” said his mother.

“It was quite shocking to give birth and then for the first thing to happen is they put your baby in a sandwich bag.

“We do have a picture of him in it, which I am sure we can all laugh about when he gets older.

And now, animal spies:

After a series of shark attacks in the popular Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in 2010, rumors in the Egyptian press accused Israeli intelligence agency Mossad of training the beasts. It was thought that the shark might have been deliberately planted in the area in order to damage the tourist trade. Israel vehemently denied the accusations and pointed out that they too had beach resorts on the Red Sea, meaning that any shark in the area was a danger to Israel as well.

Monday Post

Just not enough hours in the day...

But budgets balance themselves:

Monday’s pre-budget update on November’s fiscal update was aimed at taking the sting out the revelation that the deficit will be a whopper. The finance minister said the deteriorating fiscal position since the fall means the deficit for 2016-17 will be $18.4 billion, from $3.9 billion in the fall, even if that number is well-padded with $6 billion in contingency.

No, Liberals, you can own it:

The talking point in every Liberal mouth was that this promise — to splash out billions of dollars in every direction, only a fraction of it for infrastructure even on the Liberals’ ludicrously open-ended definition — represents a bold “new approach” to economic policy. (Also a “new course,” a “new direction,” and a “new plan.”) I grant that it is not found in most economics textbooks, where the notion of treating a supply shock like a collapse in oil prices with demand stimulus would be treated with some derision.

Well, obviously:

A trail of money stretching from a Panamanian shipping agent to an octogenarian Singaporean to a Chinese bank provides a window on why U.S. efforts to tighten sanctions on North Korea may be harder to achieve than in the case of Iran.

For decades North Korea has built networks of front companies and foreign intermediaries to channel currency in and out, circumventing attempts to isolate it over its nuclear-weapons program. Court documents and interviews with investigators, banks and prosecutors show the cornerstone of those networks is China.

“Its geographic proximity, the huge trade volume, having the contacts, and having the historic relationship all contribute to making China the center point for any North Korean initiative to evade international financial sanctions,” said William Newcomb, a former member of a panel of experts assisting the United Nations’ North Korea sanctions committee. “China is a very important piece in making sure that blockages work.”

And who is going to hold China accountable for dragging out the misery of the North Korean people?




Like fun you would. This was sell-able murder-pr0n and you know it:

California man Michael Chilldres had no idea who William Pickton was—or what kind of maelstrom he was wading into—when he arranged to have the serial killer’s scrawled autobiography published.

“If I had to do it all over again, I would say ‘no,’” said Chilldres by phone from his home just outside of Los Angeles.

“I didn’t think this book was going to be as big of a deal as it is; I just thought it would be a little deal.”

Fake Canadian wins an award:

Journalist Mohamed Fahmy is the recipient of this year's Freedom to Read award from the Writers' Union of Canada.

And now, a chase scene from a recent episode of "The Walking Dead" but funnier:

(WARNING: if you haven't seen the episode, don't watch this. Or watch it. Don't care.)

But Wait! There's More!

I know, right?

In the vein of being anti-Harper and pro-terrorist, the Liberals have decided to drop the appeal against convicted terrorist Omar Khadr's bail and to grant Syrian migrants more health benefits than the average tax-paying Canadian does:

The federal government has decided against pursuing an appeal of an Alberta court's decision to grant former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr bail.

The decision came in a joint statement Thursday from Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.

"The government of Canada respects the decision of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, which determined that Mr. Khadr be released on bail in Canada pending his U.S. appeal of his U.S. convictions and sentence," the statement said.

"Withdrawing this appeal is an important step towards fulfilling the government's commitment to review its litigation strategy."

**

The federal Liberals are ripping up a patchwork system of health-care coverage for newly arrived refugees and those seeking refugee status in favour of blanket coverage for all, beginning in April.

Liberal voters wanted this. They voted for it.



The Liberal train wreck keeps building momentum, taking with it villages in its path:

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion says the Liberal government does not necessarily approve of Canada's sale of $15 billion worth of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, a country with a dismal human rights record.

(Sidebar: yet they did nothing to stop it.)


**

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has ruled out cutting the size of the Canadian military, despite the country's bleak economic and fiscal picture.

(Sidebar: so, the Liberals will be liquidating ISIS? Of course not! They support ISIS!)




The Phantom speaks:

Not one existing media company has questioned The Deal they made with the Liberals back in the 1930's. The Faustian bargain that has set the course of this country since the Great Depression is finally coming apart due to social upheaval, government following policies that are destroying Canada and new technology creating competition for the public's eyeball time.
Clearly, the Big Media Buggywhip manufacturers are going to ride The Deal down in flames. Because they are -stupid-.
Faster, please!

The Phantom has spoken.

This must be unavoidable otherwise the Liberals would have stopped this in its tracks:

Parliamentarians are on the verge of voting to reject the movement to boycott Israel that has caused controversy in Canada and around the world.

A vote on the matter is scheduled for Thursday in the House of Commons, and the ruling Liberals said they would support a Conservative MP’s motion to reject the so-called Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for a boycott of Israel based on its treatment of Palestinians.

Former Conservative cabinet member Tony Clement introduced a motion calling for Canada to reject the BDS movement because it “promotes the demonization and delegitimization” of Israel as a state.

The motion also calls on the government to condemn any attempt by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement at home or abroad.

Global Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said the motion was divisive, but said the government would support it anyway because it also believes the movement is harmful.

Bull$%!#, Dion:

 

Whatever gets the revenue flowing:

Ontario plans to allow up to 300 grocery stores to sell wine across the province, starting with 70 locations slated to begin this fall, Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced. 

What Pope Francis actually said:

Phil Pullella, Reuters: Today, you spoke very eloquently about the problems of immigration. On the other side of the border, there is a very tough electoral battle. One of the candidates for the White House, Republican, Donald Trump, in an interview recently said that you are a political man and he even said that you are a pawn, an instrument of the Mexican government for migration politics. Trump said that if he’s elected, he wants to build 2,500 kilometers of wall along the border. He wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, separating families, etcetera. I would like to ask you, what do you think of these accusations against you and if a North American Catholic can vote for a person like this?

Pope Francis: Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as “animal politicus.” At least I am a human person. As to whether I am a pawn, well, maybe, I don't know. I'll leave that up to your judgment and that of the people. And then, a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.

What the same popular press that ignores what an @$$hole Obama is said that the Pope said:

Pope Francis forcefully injected himself into the U.S. presidential campaign on Thursday, assailing Republican candidate Donald Trump's views on U.S. immigration as "not Christian" in a sign of growing international concern at the billionaire businessman's election prospects.

Now, carry on.



But does he vote Liberal?

The federal government said Wednesday it has found a way to visit a Canadian pastor in a North Korean prison, where he is serving a life sentence.

Hyeon Soo Lim, a pastor with the Light Korean Presbyterian Church of Mississauga, Ont., was recently sentenced by a North Korean court to life in prison at hard labour for what it called crimes against the state.

Joseph Pickerill, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, said consular officials have managed to provide assistance to Lim and his family.

"We are grateful that we were able to visit him," Pickerill said in an email, but he did not elaborate. "In the interest of Mr. Lim's case, no further information can be shared."

And now, an interactive guide to beer. Enjoy.

Mid-Week Post

We would rather be here....

It's the mid-weekiest!


After being embarrassed by Ezra Levant, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley now realises the virtue of a free press:

In an abrupt about-face, the Alberta NDP government says it will not ban any media outlets from news conferences while a review of its policies is underway.

"We've heard a lot of feedback from Albertans and media over the course of the last two days, and it's clear we made a mistake," Cheryl Oates, communications director for Premier Rachel Notley, said Wednesday in a written statement.

"The government has appointed former Western Canadian bureau chief for Canadian Press, Heather Boyd, to consult and give us recommendations on what the government's media policies should be. In the meantime, no one will be excluded from government media events."

The government banned correspondents from The Rebel conservative news site last week, saying "they are not journalists."

The site, owned by right-wing pundit Ezra Levant, has been highly critical of Notley and her government. In a posting on The Rebel Wednesday, Levant said Notley's decision is only a partial victory. 

"But pay attention to that last line: Notley has hired an 'expert' to advise her on how to handle troublesome journalists," he wrote about Oates's statement. "The lifting of the blacklist is only 'in the meantime' Notley may well revert to a policy of government-regulated journalism if her hand-picked advisor can find a way to spin it.

The ban was criticized by journalists and free speech advocates across the country, and was the subject of a scathing editorial in the Globe and Mail that called it "beyond deplorable."

I'm sure Premier Notley wished she had the CBC to shill and cover for her as PM Trulander does. the lack of apology does not erase her flagrant would-be abuse of the free press.

Perhaps she never thought to ask why a press independent of the tiresome usual mouthpieces was necessary?

How embarrassing for her.

Also:

Canadian broadcasters have a responsibility to invest in robust news operations and will be held to account for those obligations ahead of license renewals due next year, the head of the country's broadcast regulator said on Wednesday.

Skimping on news? Like Omar Khadr laughing with jihadists online? THAT news?

When did Omar Khadr denounce terrorism? (source)

Yes, we know:

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Tuesday effectively conceded the government could not balance the budget as quickly as promised, saying the return to surplus would be achieved over the long term.

Also: Chretien's greatest hits... or chokes:

No one saw it coming — least of all protester Bill Clennett who was blocking then-prime minister Jean Chrétien on Flag Day 20 years ago.

In a single decisive move, the then 66-year-old leader grasped the back of Clennett’s head, twisted it around and shoved him aside. The RCMP detail then wrestled the protester to the ground and dislodged a crown in the 44-year-old’s mouth.

Strange coming from someone who didn't dare mention the Jews who died during the Holocaust:

The Calgary Board of Education rushed to clean off hateful graffiti on Monday morning, but for far too long this weekend the words "Syrians Go Home and Die" and other slogans stained the brick walls of Wilma Hansen Junior High in southeast Calgary.

The graffiti also targeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who took to Twitter to condemn the vandalism.

 One can't upset that voters block! 

South Korea needs to step up its plan once North Korea collapses:

South Korea's president on Tuesday warned North Korea faces collapse if it doesn't abandon its nuclear bomb program, an unusually strong broadside that is certain to infuriate Pyongyang.

In a speech at parliament, President Park Geun-hye said South Korea will take unspecified "stronger and more effective" measures to make North Korea realize its nuclear ambitions will result only in accelerating its "regime collapse."

Park made the speech while defending her government's decision to shut down a jointly run factory park in North Korea in response to the North's rocket launch. Pyongyang retaliated by expelling all the South Koreans there, put its military in charge of the area and cut off key communication hotlines between the Koreas.

It is unusual for a top South Korean official to publicly touch on such a government collapse because of worries about how sensitive North Korea is to talk of its authoritarian government losing power. Pyongyang has long accused Washington and Seoul agitating for its collapse.

Remember -  under political multiculturalism, all cultures have something of equal value to offer:

Heartbreaking photos of a starving boy in Nigeria have garnered over a £100,000 in donations and highlighted the issue of superstition across the country. 

The boy, dubbed Hope, was found emaciated and abandoned after being accused of being a witch.

Anja Ringgren Lovén, an aid worker from Denmark, shared the photos to Facebook, saying, “Thousands of children are being accused of being witches and we’ve both seen torture of children, dead children and frightened children.

“This footage shows why I fight. Why I sold everything I own.” 

After adding that Hope was in hospital and that donations were being accepted to help his recovery, over 1 million Danish kroner (around £103,000) was donated in two days. 

The full story of what happened to Hope is not clear, but it seems that he is one of many young children in the country who are accused of being witches, then tortured, cast out or killed as a result.

But there was already modest clothing. It never stopped this, this, this, this or this:

The brand’s new LifeWear collection was designed by the British fashion blogger and designer Hana Tajima, taking a more “modest” approach on women’s fashion, with flowing skirts, tapered ankle-length pants, blouses and more traditional items, including the kebaya and hijab. 

Can anyone admire these tapered fashions under the burqa?

 Aaahhh, First-Worlders thinking that they've made a difference... to them.




It's about damn time:

There are only 60,000 Inuit in Canada, but they are divided between nine different writing forms and at least that many dialects. On Friday, language experts are to meet in Ottawa to help bridge that gulf.

"People can generally understand each other, but there are serious limitations for that understanding," said Natan Obed, head of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada's national Inuit group.

"If we had one unified writing system, we could maximize the ability for us to read in our language and also educate our children and provide them with learning resources."

Inuktitut fractured because it was spoken by widely dispersed groups who rarely interacted. The language splintered further when missionaries developed writing for it.

Syllabics, originally based on characters from Pitman shorthand, are most common in the Eastern Arctic. Roman orthography, the letters of the alphabet most of us recognize, is mostly used in the west.

The dialects have diverged so widely that some use sounds that speakers from other parts of the North can't even pronounce. Obed's group produces a magazine called Inuktitut that native speakers in the far west and the far east just can't read.

The drive to establish a standard writing form dates back to a recommendation in a 2011 report on Inuit education. Last September, experts from the four major Inuit regions began that task and continue their work on Friday.

Israeli archaeologists discover a settlement that is seven thousand years old:

Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday they have unearthed a 7,000-year-old settlement in northern Jerusalem, describing it as the oldest discovery of its kind in the area.

Israel's Antiquities Authority said the excavation exposed two houses with well-preserved remains and floors containing pottery vessels, flint tools and a basalt bowl.

Ronit Lupu, the authority's director of excavations, said the items are representative of the early Chalcolithic period, beginning around 5,000 B.C. Similar developments have been found elsewhere in present-day Israel but not in Jerusalem.

"This is the first time we found architecture of this kind in Jerusalem itself," she said. "We are talking about an established society, very well organized, with settlement, with cemeteries."

She only wants a donut: