Mid-Week Post

For your snowy middle of the week ...




It's time to bleed the east:

Welcome to Quebec, where not only will the monopoly provider of electricity continue to charge you monopoly prices for electricity, it’s now going to enhance the experience by billing you in the language of its choice, not yours.

**

In a long and passionate speech in Red Deer, he laid out a series of prescriptions for improving Alberta’s health in Canada.

This was instantly painted as a path to separatism by the NDP and other critics. Kenney is, in their view, the Don Cherry of politicians — outdated and divisive.

But Kenney is actually being quite moderate. Everything on his long to-do list is permissible within Confederation.

You may like these ideas — Alberta pension plan, provincial police and tax collection, fixing the stabilization program — or you may truly hate them.

But to call them separatist is itself divisive. To say that a province can’t even discuss using its legitimate powers is what’s really un-Canadian.

The late premier Peter Lougheed, the object of modern hagiography from all sides, was once called a nation-wrecker for cutting oil shipments to the rest of Canada.

In 2012, Lougheed was named the best Canadian premier of the past 40 years.

Emulate him, Mr. Kenney.




Oh, my:

Readers have flooded our Letters to the Editor inbox with their thoughts and reaction to the firing on Nov. 11 of controversial hockey icon Don Cherry, once named the seventh greatest Canadian in history. Cherry was fired two days after he delivered a confusing rant about poppies and newcomers on his Coach’s Corner segment of Hockey Night In Canada. Here are the letters from the National Post’s Letters page. ...

Every Canadian should wear a poppy in respect and if they don’t, should be told about it. This is our country and when you become Canadian you abide by our habits. ...

Thank you Don Cherry for standing up for free speech.

Why can’t people express their opinions anymore?

It’s OK to say something as long as the left says it is OK; if they don’t give their blessing, then watch out.

I believe there are a lot of people who privately agree with being allowed to speak freely, but won’t publicly say so. Because of that fear, free speech will just continue to become less and less free.

Also -  stop subsidising post-secondary education. It seems that all it has produced is finger-wagging scolds and squishy little infants who hate words:

In October 2016, a University of Toronto psychology professor named Jordan Peterson gave an impassioned speech to student protesters in front of Sidney Smith Hall. The events surrounding Peterson at the time would spark a larger discussion about free speech on university campuses across Canada that continues to this day.

It’s now a widely held belief that campus free speech is under threat from student protesters, campus organizations, and even university officials.

If you believe that carbon (which plants eat) causes "climate change" (as opposed to seasons) and fires (even in cooler years) and not raw sewage, lead or air polluting mechanisms cause environmental problems, then yes, education is sorely lacking:

A new study has found the majority of Canadians believe climate change education is falling short of expectations.

Fifty-one per cent of Canadians feel well-informed about climate change, but 43 per cent failed a climate knowledge test, according to the study, which was led by Lakehead University researchers in collaboration with the education organization Learning for a Sustainable Future.

In the study, 86 per cent of Canadians said they need more information about climate change.

Just shut up and pay the carbon taxes, kids. You voted for it, after all.




China declares that Taiwan is "scare-mongering":

China said on Wednesday Taiwan was scaremongering with talk of a possible Chinese attack, after Taiwan's foreign minister said Beijing could resort to military conflict to divert domestic pressure if an economic slowdown bites.

As Taiwan's presidential elections approach in January, China has stepped up a campaign to "reunify" with what it considers a wayward province, wooing away the island's few diplomatic allies and flying regular bomber patrols around it.

And President Xi Jinping said in January that China reserves the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control but will strive to achieve peaceful "reunification".

This China:

On Tuesday, two people in China were diagnosed with a strain of the plague more infectious than the strain that ravaged Europe in the Dark Ages, sparking a push by authorities to contain the infection and prevent an epidemic.

The plague is a serious infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacteria typically found in mammals and fleas. It can cause symptoms like fever, vomiting and nausea, and has a high mortality rate.

According to Chinese publication Xinhua, doctors in Beijing confirmed that the patients, from China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, were infected with pneumonic plague.

And now, relax by the fire with nine hundred bottles of cognac:

Underwater treasure hunters exploring the remains of a sunken Swedish steamer in the Baltic Sea have discovered a motherload of cognac and liqueur bottles stowed on the ship — but are unsure if they’re still drinkable. 

Divers and unmanned vehicles from Ocean X team — who were the first to discover the steamer ‘Kyros’ in 1999 — and iXplorer have salvaged more than 600 bottles of De Haartman & Co. cognac and 300 bottles of Benedictine liqueur. 

The bottles were supposed to be delivered from France to St. Petersburg, Russia via Sweden in December 1916, the team posted on their Its trip came to a quick halt when it was stopped by German submarine ‘UC58’. The submarine sank the steamer as the Germans considered parts of the cargo as contraband. The Kyros crew however, were transferred to a nearby ship and were safely returned to Sweden.