Nine Things We Learnt This Week

1. George Bush, explained.

The devil made him
” ‘Evil exists in politics, quite often in fact,’ Father Amorth said.  ‘The devil loves to take over business leaders and those who hold political office.  Hitler and Stalin were possessed.  How do I know? Because they killed millions of people.  The Gospel says: ‘By their fruits you will [...]

House of Commons Votes to Protect War Resisters

Unfortunately, it’s non-binding. The Tories voted against the motion.
From the Canadian Friends Service Committee, the peace and social justice agency of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers):
Today, just after 3 pm, the House of Commons voted 137 – 110 in favour of the 3rd report of the Standing Committee on Immigration and Citizenship, which included this [...]

Crocodile Tears

I’m only sorry I got caught
When Tom Lukiwski’s now infamous (and soused) anti-gay remarks became public two months ago, it was reported the hapless MP cried. The more tenderhearted in the media said Lukiwksi wept for embarassing his family, his party, and the government; more cynical wags suggested tears were shed for shattered political propects. [...]

The Hype. The Reality.

From electoral-vote.com:
McCain versus Obama
Electoral Votes: Obama 237     McCain 290     Ties 11

McCain versus Clinton:
Electoral Votes: Clinton 279     McCain 242     Ties 17

There’s a blog called The Truth About John Sydney McCain which has as its tagline:
This blog provides the ugly but well-researched and documented truth about John McCain’s voting record, his fatal inconsistencies, his [...]

Free Speech Hysteria: Does Anyone Smell a Rat?

Studied outrage over the tribulations of Mark Steyn and Maclean’s before various human rights commissions continued this last week, with editorials appearing in both the National Post and Maclean’s.  Granted, the complaints were an abuse of process, and means need to be found to prevent the frivolous and vexatious from reaching the tribunals.  Freedom of speech [...]

A Fungus Among Us

For the apocalyptically-minded, another sign the end is near.  According to an article in the New Scientist, forget about cropland being diverted to feed SUVs (anyone want to talk about the morality of that?) Forget about droughts and export bans and food riots, forget about the new middle classes in China and India driving demand.  [...]

A Christian, Persecuted

Several deep threads of irony lace the recent decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against Christian Horizons, a provider of services to people with developmental disorders.  The case involved a Christian lesbian named Connie Heintz, who left her job with this agency, and indeed was harassed out of it. Heintz found herself unable to comply [...]

Obama, Hawking and the Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe

So I spent the week pissing around with a post.  I used up hours marshalling facts, arguments and raw data, pondering over whether this phrase or that represented le mot juste, and generally parsing nothing at all.  My opus major was to be on the topic of Islam and Europe, and the hysteria contained therein, and about [...]

I’m Joining the Tin Foil Hat Brigade

My friends say I’m taking a holiday from reality. But I had an inspiration. I decided the Conservative Party and the right in general are out to destroy the country. This is how it happened: I was outside last night, looking at the stars.  There was a slight wind, from the northeast, and just the hint of cloudiness on the southern horizon.  [...]

The Death of Us

Amnesty International yesterday released a report on the number of executions last year: at least 1,200 people were hung, decapitated, shot, electrocuted or lethally injected last year in twenty-four countries, and 3,347 more went to death row.  Eighty-eight per cent of executions took place in the usual suspects: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States.  [...]