Saint Nicholas of Myra is known for his generosity. It endears people to him.
What people seldom talk about is how he drilled a guy in the face for uttering heresy:
Arius entered the room with a sheaf of parchments in his hands, his own writings. He waited respectfully until he was addressed, and then simply, plainly, he began to read. The room was silent at first. Silent the way the night is silent before a storm. And then there were rustles, then rumbles, and then shouts. The confessors, men who had spent years beaten, chained, tortured, starved, alone except for the company of the God Man, Jesus Christ, couldn’t bear Arius’s words. Nicholas found himself standing up, walking to where Arius stood, speaking to him, over him.
Arius would not yield. He raised his voice. And Nicholas raised his hand and slapped Arius.
Arius staggered back. He might have fallen had one of the servants not caught him. And there was silence again. Awful, terrible silence. No one spoke. No one moved. And then the Emperor nodded to his guards. “Remove him.”
Something to think about.
Also - the saints of Christmas.
Speaking of heretics and Scrooges:
Folks, lock away your money.
— pierrepoilievre (@PierrePoilievre) December 5, 2020
Liberals are worried you're saving too much.
They want "ideas on how the government can act to unlock" those savings.
No, Trudeau, people's savings don't belong to you.
Keep your hands where we can see them. pic.twitter.com/p0bfokpibl
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she’s reticent to suggest a new wave of government spending will be enough to stave off COVID-19’s economic fallout this winter, warning Canadians that the government doesn’t “have a crystal ball” and that the pandemic’s path has been hard to predict thus far.
In an interview Friday, Freeland didn’t rule out spending more in order to reduce the damage of worsening COVID-19 conditions. She said that attempts by economists to forecast the impact of the pandemic have been “consistently wrong.”
“I think people underestimated the initial impact of the coronavirus on the economy, then they underestimated how strong the recovery would be in the summer and I think people have underestimated what the impact of the second wave of the virus would be,” she said.
“I think we all need to be very humble and be very aware of the fact that there's huge uncertainty out there.”
On Monday, she unveiled a Fall economic update that included measures meant to fight the pandemic with the government now projecting a $381.6-billion deficit this fiscal year and up to $100-billion in stimulus over the next three years. However, some observers told BNN Bloomberg the document was light on details when it came to some of the relief programs being outlined.
So, how will raiding a waiter's bank account kick-start the economy when pipelines and a plethora of taxes did not?
Also - farmers feeds cities (not that the Liberals would know) and it's just money:
The carbon tax will cost farmers at least $235 million over five years, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. The Department of Agriculture had concealed the data as secret: “These are exorbitant bills.”
**
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna in a report to Parliament said a federal bank created to finance public works instead spent more than $1.5 million on travel and publicity. Two-thirds of the Canada Infrastructure Bank office budget went to salaries and benefits: “We were expecting to see roads, bridges.”
It's rather embarrassing when people point out one's corruption:
The Senate last night erupted in protest after a legislator called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a bribe-taker. Sharp words came during debate on a motion to investigate federal funding for We Charity: “I’d be more than happy to see him in a court of law.”
(Sidebar: could one imagine the stuttering snowboard instructor on the witness stand trying to explain how his family ended with huge chunks of cash from a "charity"?)
**
He damn well means it:
Just as the RCMP & the Crown must be free to apply the applicable sections of the criminal code, Parliamentarians must be free to call out inappropriate behaviour by the PM, especially unlawful behaviour. https://t.co/YMQP4jd9mN
— Senator Leo Housakos (@SenatorHousakos) December 4, 2020
**
He did. 'Senator Housakos last night said he’d repeated his statements outside the Chamber beyond the scope of parliamentary privilege, and welcomed any libel suit by the Prime Minister. “I’d be more than happy to see him in a court of law and cross-examine him,” said Housakos.' https://t.co/LSvX9vGuKw
— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) December 5, 2020
It is safe to say that Senator Housakos cares not for Trudeau's - ahem - leadership and that should Justin take the bait and publicly defend himself, things could get messy.
Also:
Opposition MPs grilled former Liberal MP Frank Baylis Friday on his company’s part in a COVID-19 contract, but Baylis and his business partner insisted they have done nothing but provide nearly 8,000 medical ventilators during a pandemic.
Baylis was a one-term Liberal MP, elected in 2015, who declined to run for reelection in 2019. He was part of a consortium of companies that received a $237-million contract to provide 10,000 ventilators in the spring.
Remember - the same government that handed Mr. Baylis this contract refuses point-blank to be clear and honest about distributing a vaccine that no one can say with certainty works or will not cause serious side-effects.
And:
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams told reporters on Thursday that Ontarians may be required to be vaccinated before entering long term care homes or hospitals without PPE.
"We can't force someone to take a vaccine, that's clear... We want to make sure we have all the information they need, as well as all the safety information.
And:
On Saturday, a judge ruled against Springs Church’s drive-in services saying they went against public health orders.
Springs Church took the Manitoba government to court after being fined more than $32,000 for holding drive-in church services, that are currently barred under level red restrictions, which are set to expire on Dec. 11.
Lawyers for the church argued the services are safe and are no different than sitting in a drive-thru lineup, waiting in your car for curbside pickup, or even sitting at a red light in traffic.
If the powers that be really felt that even drive-through services were deadly, they should close down all restaurants.
Let's see how well that goes down.
Trading with China has been an unmitigated disaster.
But don't take my word for it:
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to comment on the reports about a possible deal between the United States and Meng.
“For almost two years we have been working extremely hard to bring home these two Michaels,” Trudeau said. “It has been extremely difficult for them and for their loved ones. We shall continue to stand up for Canadians around the world.”
The U.S. Department of Justice did not return the National Post‘s request for comment. ...
There would be consequences to accepting a deal with the U.S., but if Meng returns to China, she’s likely to be given a hero’s welcome, said John Gruetzner, a China policy expert now based in Vancouver after more than 30 years in Beijing as the co-founder of an international consultancy firm.
“The Chinese media will treat her as a returning Olympic hero and brand her as the Lei Feng of globalization,” he said, referencing the Chinese soldier who was featured in several propaganda campaigns and personifies self-sacrifice.
If a deal is forthcoming — which is by no means certain, said Gruetzner — she’s likely to return to China and continue her work with Huawei.
**
But was the message received? Canadian officials, dazzled by the economic value of Canada’s exports (and in some cases, one suspects, the prospect of lucrative Chinese-linked consulting gigs after their time in office is up) have been reluctant to impose whatever costs Canada can on China. Our means are limited, but they are not zero — Australia, a country smaller and more vulnerable than us, has shown far more courage in taking on China than we have. But in Ottawa, just a few weeks ago, while our foreign affairs minister managed to mouth a few platitudes that struck something close to the right notes, he soon fell into observing how valuable tourism from China is to our hospitality sector. As I noted in a column at the time, it was refreshingly honest: our values, and our national self-respect, don’t quite measure up to the value of China to our economy.
And that is why China can do what it does.
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