But Wait! There's More!

It's Monday and Khawlah Noman and her family are still liars.


Also a grubby liar, Trudeau:

Almost immediately after the story of a hijab attack was reported, Justin Trudeau made comments both on Twitter and at a public event.

His comments helped spread the story far and wide, turning it into an international incident.

Yet, Trudeau commented without actually knowing the facts, and it has now been revealed as a hoax.

So, is Trudeau apologizing for spreading the big lie?

Nope.

Instead, he’s doubling down on his manipulative messaging, releasing the following statement:

We can notice that Trudeau’s PMO statement includes no apology, and no admission of his responsibility for spreading the hoax.

Yes, where IS that apology from the arrogant popinjay son of a former prime minister? Where is that heartfelt retraction of venom against the Canadian public for the lies of an attention-seeking cult? Where is that realisation that someone has been had and then helped spread pernicious lies from so obviously a false claim? Where is that consistency of defense of ALL peoples in this country? Oh, where?


Also - freedom of speech is alright as long as one never opens one's mouth and agrees with the mob under penalty of expulsion or worse:

An Acadia University professor said a petition calling for him to be removed from teaching classes at the school is "rather surreal and absurd."

Rick Mehta — who has taught psychology at Acadia for 14 years — is under fire for his social media posts about Sen. Lynn Beyak and residential schools. But Mehta said he's simply practising free speech.

"You just have to laugh. The whole situation just seems just rather bizarre, because I just put out a tweet … I wasn't expecting any consequences," said Mehta.

The controversy started after Mehta tweeted at federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who had removed Beyak from the party's parliamentary caucus.

Beyak was kicked out after refusing to remove "racist" comments found in letters posted to her Senate website. The senator had posted roughly 100 letters in support of her earlier defence of Canada's residential schools, where some 6,000 Indigenous children died from malnutrition and disease.

On Jan. 5, Mehta tweeted to Scheer: "You claim to support free speech, yet you remove Senator Beyak from your caucus. Where is the evidence of racism? Are you saying that the Aboriginal people should have a protected status and therefore can't be criticized? Bad move re: race relations."

"I was supporting Sen. Beyak, not her positions — but just her right to put letters on a website and to express her views," said Mehta.

Mehta has also tweeted and retweeted a number of posts slamming what he calls political correctness. 

Mehta said he tries to keep his opinions out of the classroom, but said more and more professors at university are liberal "so the consequence of that is that it limits them [to] what kinds of questions are asked, the approaches that are taken, how data is interpreted.

"My job is to teach [students] how to think, not what to think. So if there's a dominant narrative on campus, then the way I see my role as a professor is to provide different perspectives so students can decide for themselves what they think is the truth," said Mehta.

Jessica Durling, a human rights activist in Halifax, is one of three people behind the petition to have Mehta removed from his job. As of midday Monday, just over 500 people had signed the petition on change.org.

"He has a position of power at Acadia, and yet chooses to continuously belittle and oppose marginalized groups using his influence as a teacher and being put on a pedestal as somebody who students can look up to," said Durling. "Marginalized people of Nova Scotia just don't feel comfortable with that."

Durling said she first heard about Mehta a week ago. She said she saw one of her contacts on Twitter engaging with him. Although she's not an Acadia student, Durling said she has talked to people who have taken his classes. She said they were "downright surprised" to hear about his views.

"There can't be a man — who thinks marginalized groups are less, who thinks residential schools did good — in a position of power teaching students and teaching lectures being put on a pedestal," said Durling.

If Mehta isn't fired, Durling said it would not reflect well for the university.

Mehta said as of Sunday, he had not heard anything from school officials. "I think it would just be bad publicity if they were to just give in to a petition," he said.

A counter-petition also exists on change.org, calling for "support" for Mehta; it has been signed by about 230 people.

How "not reflect well", Miss Durling? This "not reflect well"?

Some people are serious politicians and others are people who enjoy playing make-believe.

Case in point:

There is skepticism about what can be achieved at this summit, given the players that will not be at the table.

Neither China nor Russia will attend.

"We've invited both of them to the meeting, and if they choose at the last minute to come, we would be grateful to see them there," Freeland said.

"We're also looking forward after the meeting to Briefing both China and Russia about our conclusions and bringing them into the conversation," she added.

"They're not going to solve the Korean crisis at this meeting," said Roland Paris, a former foreign affairs advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But, he said "I think it is always useful to be bringing countries together to be talking about this kind of a crisis situation."

Yes, but all people do is talk, like this total waste of time.

Does one really think that Justin will lean on China or Russia? How?

Asia just isn't your forte, Justin.

Climate Barbie tries bribing hold-out provinces:

The federal government is giving itself the legal wiggle room to give carbon tax rebate cheques directly to people in those provinces that refuse to impose a carbon tax of their own.

A draft legislative proposal released Monday spells out that any federal revenues raised by a carbon tax can either be returned to the government in the province where the money was raised, given directly to individuals or divided between the two.

Only provincial governments that voluntarily ask to use the federal carbon price system will guarantee they get the revenues to use how they see fit, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna's office confirmed to The Canadian Press.

Provinces that end up having the federal system imposed on them because they don't meet federal requirements will run the risk of being bypassed in favour of Ottawa sending rebate cheques directly to individuals.

Where has one heard this before?

Australia’s national carbon tax came into effect July 1, 2012, and was repealed on July 17, 2014.

“Australians tried a carbon tax, it didn’t work, so they repealed it, and Canadians need to take a close look at that experience,” said CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick. “Many Canadians are about to feel the impact of a national carbon tax and it’s important to find out what to expect and hear it first-hand from a country that has tried it.”

Australia produces roughly 1.5 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions. Canada produces 1.65 per cent.

“Many Australians faced high energy bills and job losses as a result of our carbon tax,” said Chris Berg of the Institute of Public Affairs.

“The government was forced to create heaps of new bureaucracy, rebates, free carbon credits and red tape just to deal with the fallout from the tax. And worst of all, it did virtually nothing to impact global climate change. Canadians should not follow us down this path.”

South of the border, however, things are a little chipper:

President Donald Trump often brags that he's done more in his first year in office than any other president. That's a spectacular stretch.

But while he's fallen short on many measures and has a strikingly thin legislative record, Trump has followed through on dozens of his campaign promises, overhauling the country's tax system, changing the U.S. posture abroad and upending the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

A year in, Trump is no closer to making Mexico pay for a border wall than when he made supporters swoon with that promise at those rollicking campaign rallies of 2016.

He's run into legislative roadblocks — from fellow Republicans, no less — at big moments, which is why the Obama-era health law survives, wounded but still insuring millions. His own administration's sloppy start explains why none of the laws he pledged to sign in his first 100 days came to reality then and why most are still aspirational.

Nevertheless, Trump has nailed the tax overhaul, his only historic legislative accomplishment to date, won confirmation of a conservative Supreme Court justice and other federal judges, and used his executive powers with vigour to slice regulations and pull the U.S. away from international accords he assailed as a candidate.

Courts tied his most provocative actions on immigration and Muslim entry in knots, but illegal border crossings appear to be at historic lows.

The upshot? For all his rogue tendencies, Trump has shaped up as a largely conventional Republican president when measured by his promises kept and in motion.