Barbarians

Israel Finds Bodies of Kidnapped Teenagers

Assholes never learn.

Israel retaliates:

In wake of teen deaths, Israel vows to crush Hamas

Israel carries out strikes in Gaza

Israeli jets pound Gaza, 34 targets hit in overnight strike

You don't mess with Israel.

Charitable Scams

Vivian Krause spends nearly half an hour detailing scams (mostly American) aimed at eliminating Canadian oil and gas exports.



More.

It's Not Really Clear, But....

...did she kick him in the balls?



In any case, you go girl!!

We Live In Interesting Times

The chicken has come home to roost.

I've thought, for some time now, that the reason the House of Saud supports the Muslim Brotherhood and others of that ilk is because they want to hang on to their thrones - a Danegeld of sorts. Looks like their luck may have run out.

Saudi king now trying to stop terrorists he enabled

"The old guard of Saudi Arabia is witnessing what may be a power shift — if not to Iran –certainly to Qatar who is funding lots of this terrorist activity as well – and with whom, you’ll recall, we negotiated for the release of Bowe Berdgahl. Meanwhile, quietly sitting and watching is Erdogan and Turkey.

My ace in the hole is simple: the Kurdish people."

Cool!

Three hours worth. It`s pouring rain outside and has been all month. Nothing else to do but watch cool stuff like this.

What Britain Cobbles Together

...the Kurds may rend asunder:

Iraq Kurds Won't Give Up Territory, Leader Says

Iraq's Kurds rule out retreating from Kirkuk

Destination unknown: Will Kurds use oil to break free from Iraq?

Iraqi Kurds have no plans to give up control of Kirkuk

Iraq Breakup Made Easier by Turkey’s Détente With Kurds

As Sunnis, Shiites Battle, Are Iraq's Kurds Preparing to Declare Independence?

Is WWIII about to break out?

Iran warns Iraqi Kurds on independence

Bit By Bit...

...It's not the way I prefer, but at least it's happening. Long over due, too, but they are trying to catch up:

CBC cutting back evening news, in-house production

CBC to cut back supper-hour news, in-house productions

"Corporation will have up to 1,500 fewer employees by 2020"

[---]

"The CBC is shifting its priorities from television and radio to digital and mobile services, a move that will reduce staff, and supper-hour news broadcasts and programs produced in-house, says CBC president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix.

“We used to lead with television and radio. Web came and then mobility came. We are reversing, we are inverting the priorities that we have,” Lacroix said, referring to the broadcaster’s 2020 strategy. “We’re going to lead now with mobility, we’re going to lead with whatever widget you use.

"You’re going to see an investment in mobility that’s going to rise as the investment in perhaps television ... is reduced.”"

[---]

"In April, Lacroix announced that funding shortfalls and revenue losses had forced the broadcaster to cut $130 million from its budget this year, a move that the CBC said will eliminate 657 jobs over the next two years and take the network out of competing for the rights to broadcast professional sports."

CBC’s leaders bring it to the brink of an existential crisis: Burman

"If there was any doubt that Canada’s public broadcaster is confronting an unprecedented existential crisis, it vanished Thursday. CBC President Hubert Lacroix unveiled the corporation’s latest five-year plan at a “town hall” meeting of staff in a performance that was as disingenuous as it was depressing.

The CBC’s enemies are not only circling their prey from the outside, including the Conservative government with its unrelenting budget cuts. Its enemies are also working from within. The CBC has a compliant board of directors overwhelmingly stacked with Conservative party donors and a president, also conservative, who appears ready to implement any budget cut in virtual silence."

Says Tony Burman, who used to work for the corpse.

"Let us not be fooled. In the dead of night across this country, cut by cut, in small towns and large cities, in newsrooms and documentary edit suites, Canada’s public broadcaster is being destroyed."

And you're point is???

Lefties are apoplectic: Massive CBC cuts anger Canadian Media Guild and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting

Interesting graph on that website. CBC has faced an annual budget cut for years and years, with the biggest drop occurring during Chretien's administration.

CBC: “The reality is, as things stand, we are not sustainable”, but while the shift to digital happens, the transmitters will stay on

You Can't Make This...

...er...human shit up:

World's oldest human poop may have been found in Spain

The Spanish are known for a lot of things, but now they have something new (make that old) to be proud of. They ate their veggies.

Zingers!!!

Warmists conveniently ignore ongoing (Lake) Superior icing conditions

I Wonder?

Would it make any difference?

The Redrawing of the Map of the Middle East Begins with the Destruction of Iraq

Interesting map, though.

In Anticipation Of July 1st...

...I offer you this:

Older Ladies

You don't know what you're missing. EeeeHaaawwwe!

POW! ZAP! KAZAM!

Supreme Court Delivers Massive Blow to the EPA

What's The One gonna do about that? He's already in deep shit.

I'll Wave When I Float By

No Shit Sherlock!!

Spring showers above average for the month of June

I wonder if we should call this global wetting. I guess Gaia has postponed the global warming and dry, parched dessert fate that the warmanistas tell us is awaiting us.

I Didn't Know This!

Brrr…Niagara Falls Freezes Over for First Time in a Century

I knew it was a bitch of a winter, but sheesh!!!!!

Logan Likes His Little Brother

Been Thinking Of The Hans Island Dispute Of A Few Years Ago...

...and I came upon this, which is kinda funny. (The whole dispute was the subject of a lot of humor at the time, but this is hilarious.)

Free Hans Island

Under the heading of Facts about the Canadian occupation of Hans Island are these two gems:

• No humans have lived on Hans Island since Canada first occupied it.

And..

• Despite claiming ownership, Canada provides no medical or social services to any of the inhabitants of Hans Island.

Ummm. Medical or social  services to whom, I wonder? The walruses?

The Warmanistas Are...

...having such a hard time today, such a hard time:

Ice Core CO2 and Temperature The “Delay”

This is kind of a technical read, and therefore hard to understand, but right at the end it is summed up as follows:

"During the Holocene, CO2 increased along with water vapor. The temperature response to both is logarithmic, the same added CO2 and H2O has less and less effect. However, the larger variable is H2O. It can vary from nearly zero over deserts to saturation over tropical seas. Of these two gases, water vapor in all forms is the control on temperature, not CO2. This is why we see temperature driving CO2, and not the other way around.

Nowhere here do we see any indication that CO2 is driving temperature."

Nail. Coffin. (Emphasis mine.)

Useless Nations Exposed

Egyptian Courts...

...are kicking ass:

Egypt sentences Muslim Brotherhood leader and 182 followers to death

"Lawyers say the ruling can be overturned on appeal. It was not immediately clear how many sentences had been confirmed, with the lawyers giving estimates ranging from 182 to 197. In either case, it would be largest mass death sentence to be confirmed in Egypt in recent memory."

Death Sentence Upheld for Leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

"An Egyptian judge confirmed the death sentences of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and nearly 200 supporters on Saturday, in a trial of Islamists who held power in Egypt for a year, but were overthrown last July."

To be honest, I am sort of of two minds about this. The Muslim Brotherhood are a bunch of hoodlums, but the death penalty? Is the new leader, an army general, any different from the countless coups and counter coups and coups to counter the counter coups, that took place during the '50s and '60s during the end of the colonial era? One dictator replacing another, and then another, and another, ad infinitum, which, BTW, also happened in Egypt.

Revolutions tend to be messy and bloody.

Two Hours...

...and a bit about American-Canadian relations:



More.

Gee. I Wonder Why?

Gallup: Public's Confidence in News Media Sinks to Record Low

"In its annual survey of the public's faith in 17 key institutions, TV news has fallen to a new low, with only the U.S. Congress ranking below it in terms of public esteem.

Just 18 percent of U.S. adults say they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in TV news, down from 23 percent who gave those answers last year. The previous record low was in 2012, when just 21 percent said they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in TV news".

Faith in newspapers has also fallen to 22 percent, down from 23 percent last year and tying the record low in 2007. And less than one in five Americans (19%) said they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in "news on the Internet," a lower level than when the category was last included by Gallup in their 1999 survey.

In contrast, Gallup found much higher levels of public confidence in institutions that are often criticized by the press: the military (74%), small business (62%), the police (53%), and the church or organized religion (45%). Faith in the U.S. Congress currently stands at seven percent, down from 10 percent last year.

Faith in newspapers has also fallen to 22 percent, down from 23 percent last year and tying the record low in 2007. And less than one in five Americans (19%) said they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in "news on the Internet," a lower level than when the category was last included by Gallup in their 1999 survey.

In contrast, Gallup found much higher levels of public confidence in institutions that are often criticized by the press: the military (74%), small business (62%), the police (53%), and the church or organized religion (45%). Faith in the U.S. Congress currently stands at seven percent, down from 10 percent last year."

Emphasis mine.

The Origins Of The...

...the global warming scam - began as an attempt by Maggie Thatcher to break the strangle-hold of the British coal miners union. I remember when she did that.

Some articles about her and that era are here, here, and here.

This Is Why Atleo...

...was so unpopular with the Chiefs and other parts of The Industry:

Addressing the legacy of residential schools means supporting native families, not necessarily their band leaders

"...Mr. Atleo decisively stated: “We must not burden another generation with anger and pain.” The message of his op-ed seems clear: As much pain as Residential Schools caused many First Nations people, we should not encourage young aboriginals to dwell incessantly on the injustices of the past. The whole point of the truth and reconciliation process has been to help these communities gain a sense of closure. If that project is to be a success, their members also must stop thinking of themselves primarily as victims.

Testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, like most journalistic coverage of the issue, has focused on the worst examples of abuse. But the truth is that the system was run by a patchwork of religious and government officials, and there was no universal residential-school experience for native students. Some schools were infamous. Others were humane.

In fact, some First Nations communities, when given the choice in the mid-20th century, voted to keep their local residential schools open, because they wanted their children to learn the math and language skills that would permit them gain a livelihood. Many children at residential schools also received life-saving medical treatment — including medication for tuberculosis — that was unavailable to First Nations people still living in the bush or in remote settlements." (Emphasis mine, throughout.)

[---]

"...in some ways, the emphasis on treaty rights has actually retarded the healing of First Nations families — because the cash bounty has encouraged the transformation of reserves into miniature low-employment welfare states. No matter what one’s skin colour, dependency and idleness always encourage substance abuse, a lack of respect for education, local political corruption and other pathologies that prevent the creation of healthy communities."

Finally someone tells the truth!!! Well done Mr. Kay and Mr. Atleo.

Truth Telling

Dropping The K-Bomb

'Putin Khuilo!': Ukraine's Obscene, Patriotic Rallying Cry

Apparently it might be equivalent to calling someone a "dick".

"Every culture has a curse word so vulgar, so base, so utterly crass that its utterance can cause a sharp intake of breath among even the saltiest of swearers. So imagine what happens when that word goes from being the proprietary epithet of construction workers and market traders to a mainstream slogan embraced by the elderly, women, and children alike?

That's precisely what's happened in crisis-ridden Ukraine, where the term khuilo has become one of the most patriotic rallying cries since "Yes We Can" or "Vive La Révolution."

The term—which translates roughly as the rudest variation on the male anatomy you can think of (opinions vary)—has appeared on banners, graffiti, and the lips of thousands of Ukrainians angered by Russian meddling and eager to compare Vladimir Putin to said body part. "Putin Khuilo!" has even been popularized as a boisterous song, chanted everywhere from Kiev's Independence Square to far-flung pockets of Ukrainian solidarity in Japan and California."

Oooh my.

Brigitte Gabriell, I Love You

I found this at The Blaze. The article isn't too bad either.

“There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today – of course not all of them are radicals!” Gabriel said. “The majority of them are peaceful people. The radicals are estimated to be between 15 to 25 percent. … But when you look at 15 to 25 percent of the world Muslim population, you’re looking at 180 million to 300 million people dedicated to the destruction of western civilization. That is as big as the United States. So why should we worry about the radical 15 to 25 percent? Because it is the radicals that kill. Because it is the radicals that behead and massacre.”

Gabriel continued to note that the majority of Germans, Russians, Chinese, and Japanese in the 20th century were peaceful people, but the radicals in charge massacred tens of millions of people.

“The peaceful majority were irrelevant,” Gabriel said repeatedly.

“I’m glad you’re here, but where are the others speaking out?” Gabriel asked, before being drowned out by a round of applause. “As an American citizen, you sat in this room and instead of standing up and [asking] something about our four Americans that died [in Benghazi] and what our government is doing to correct the problem, you stood there to make a point about peaceful, moderate Muslims.”

(Emphasis mine)

Yahoo!

Man, Harper has balls. Enviroweenies are wetting their pants: Northern Gateway gets green light

Neil Young could not be reached for comment. Nor David Suzuki. Nor a half dozen other washed up old has beens and never weres in the first place.

Still a long way to go, though. Oh well. The more we hear the bleating of the enviroweenies and their know nothing compatriots the better. They are very good at falling on their own swords.

Oops

Disappointment for Hillary Clinton as sales for her memoir 'struggle in its first week'

Publishing Source: Hillary Book a 'Bomb'

Sources: Hillary Clinton book sells ‘strong’ 100,000

Sluggish sales for Hillary’s new book

Is Hard Choices a “bomb”?


Hard Choices, Soft Sales – Whoopsie – Week #1 Hillary Book Sales “A Bomb”… Hillary reportedly received a near-$14 million advance, a sum the publishing house will unlikely make back….

Hillary Clinton’s book selling well, but where’s the mad rush?

Catastropic Anthropogenic Global Warming Scam

Does high levels of CO2 in the past contradict the warming effect of CO2?

"The killer proof that CO2 does not drive climate is to be found during the Ordovician- Silurian and the Jurassic-Cretaceous periods when CO2 levels were greater than 4000 ppmv (parts per million by volume) and about 2000 ppmv respectively. If the IPCC theory is correct there should have been runaway greenhouse induced global warming during these periods but instead there was glaciation."

[---]

"Over the Earth's history, there are times where atmospheric CO2 is higher than current levels. Intriguingly, the planet experienced widespread regions of glaciation during some of those periods.

Does this contradict the warming effect of CO2? No, for one simple reason. CO2 is not the only driver of climate. To understand past climate, we need to include other forcings that drive climate. To do this, one study pieced together 490 proxy records to reconstruct CO2 levels over the last 540 million years (Royer 2006). This period is known as the Phanerozoic eon."

[---]

"Periods of low CO2 coincide with periods of geographically widespread ice (with one notable exception, discussed below). This leads to the concept of the CO2-ice threshold - the CO2 level required to initiate a glaciation. When the sun is less active, the CO2-ice threshold is much higher. For example, while the CO2-ice threshold for present-day Earth is estimated to be 500 ppm, the equivalent threshold during the Late Ordovician (450 million years ago) is 3000 ppm."

Hildabeast, AKA, Shillary...

...visits the Centre of the Universe and confirms she is an idiot:

"Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton says the decision to approve or reject the Keystone XL pipeline linking Canada and the U.S. shouldn't be seen as a symbol for the relationship between the two countries.Speaking before a business crowd in Toronto today, Clinton said talks about the controversial project should be part of a broader discussion on energy and climate"

The Top 5 Non-Energy Sources of Climate Change

Among them are cow farts (14 - 18%) and deforestation (one fifth of emissions) in third world countries.

I've never bought into that cow farts angle, though.  I'm sure bison farts were almost the same. There were 60,000,000 of them before Columbus.

Interesting Analysis...

 ...of fossil fuel consumption of the World Cup.  Scoorrre!

Have You Noticed...

...so called First Nations are only too happy to use technologies invented by the "Whiteman" to promote their hatred? Here's a case in point:

Sharing Our Cultures With The World

Just the very existence of a webpage is one such example. But look at the various features highlighted on this website. It uses photographs (a Whiteman's invention) and it highlights only events and leaders from the early 1800's up to the present, yet we are constantly reminded they have been here "since the world began".  And maps galore, all created by the evil Whiteman. And horses, that didn't exist in the Americas until the Spanish arrived. Not to mention E-books and mobile devices, and YouTube videos.

On the homepage they feature links to Amazon where they feature books and videos. Hmmmm. It's "mission statement" (another Whiteman's idea) is to "share our cultures", but what they "share" is an idealized version, devoid of many aspects of Aboriginal history and culture that doesn't advance the cause. For example, there is no mention of slavery among the Pacific Northwest cultures, nor of the near constant state of warfare between various tribes, nor of conquest of one tribe and it's territory, by another; not to mention of those politically incorrect subjects of scalping (see The Unkindest Cut, or Who Invented Scalping? by James Axtell, first published in the academic journal, William and Mary Quarterly in 1980) and torture, as practiced by the Iroquois nor of germ or chemical warfare (see Poison Arrows: Native American Indian Hunting and Warfare by David Jones, University of Texas Press, 2006).

There's a heavy focus on the myth of aboriginal stewardship of the environment. The spelling is atrocious (take a look at how they spell orchestrate on the home page, for example: "orcestrate" or "Artic" rather than ArCtic..)

All told the website is a poorly designed, barely navigable, mishmash of angry platitudes.

The Doctrine Of Bullshit Is More Like IT

Doctrine of Discovery: “Legal Fiction”

There are very few First Nations people who finish grade school, let along get into a law school, much less become judges.

A Little Bit Out Dated...

...but still relevant:

Anthropogenic Gobal Warming And All That..

Stunning admission – and a new excuse for ‘the pause’ – ‘lousy data’

Told ya.

You Know Me,...,

...and 60's music. Here's whole shit load of them:


Top 100 Songs of the '60s

Another Good One From Facebook

"Justin Trudeau walks into a Royal Bank..

Justin Trudeau walks into a Royal Bank to cash a cheque. As he approaches the cashier he says, "Good morning, Ma'am, could you please cash this cheque for me?

Cashier:"It would be my pleasure sir. Could you please show me your ID?"

Trudeau:"Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn't think there was any need to. I am Justin Trudeau, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada!!!!"

Cashier: "Yes sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations and monitoring of the banks because of impostors and forgers and requirements of the CIDC legislation, etc., I must insist on seeing ID."

Trudeau: Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am."

Cashier: "I am sorry, Mr. Trudeau, but these are the bank rules and I must follow them."

Trudeau:" Mon dieu. I am urging you, please, to cash this cheque."

Cashier: "Look Mr. Trudeau, here is an example of what we can do.

One day, Tiger Woods came into the bank without ID. To prove he was Tiger Woods he pulled out his putter and made a beautiful shot across the bank into a cup. With that shot we knew him to be Tiger Woods and cashed his cheque.

Another time, Andre Agassi came in without ID. He pulled out his tennis racket and made a fabulous shot whereas the tennis ball landed in my cup. With that shot we cashed his cheque.

So, Mr. Trudeau, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you?

Trudeau stands there thinking, and thinking, and finally says, "Honestly, my mind is a total blank...there is nothing that comes to my mind. I can't think of a single thing. I have absolutely no idea what to do. I really don't have a clue."

Cashier: "Will that be large or small bills, Mr. Trudeau...?"

Who Ya' Gonna Believe?

West Antarctic Glacier Melt Due To Volcanoes, Not Global Warming

No, Volcanoes Are Not the Primary Cause For the Melting Ice Caps

I'm gonna believe the thermometer on the outside of my kitchen window, and the goose bumps on my skin. BRRRRRRRRR!!

It's poring rain outside and the temp, once again is 4 degrees lower than normal. Global warming, my ass.

Proxy Wars - Two Can Play That Game

Iran and Saudi Arabia - Middle East Cold War

"At its core, the Iranian-Saudi rivalry is about power and money: two oil-rich giants, vying for control of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow water passage that accounts for almost 20% of all oil traded worldwide (and 40% of all US crude imports pass)"

Well, they say history repeats itself.

Green On The Outside...

...flaming red on the inside:

Fired for ‘Diverging’ on Climate: Progressive Professor’s fellowship ‘terminated’ after WSJ OpEd calling global warming ‘unproved science’

Guns & Logic

Not exactly guns and roses.

One Map Shows How Devastating U.S. Gun Violence Is Compared to the World

"The researchers found “a strong and statistically significant association between gun availability and homicide rates.”"

[---]

"There are plenty of countries with higher rates of gun violence than the U.S. — Honduras’ homicide rate is 22 times higher than America’s, even though Honduras has one-twelfth as many guns per person. The key is looking at wealthy industrialized countries, where violent crime rates are generally much lower.

What it means: This relationship between gun ownership and homicides is one of the reasons the U.S. has seen 74 school shootings since the Newtown tragedy — one every seven days."

But, oh no. We have a right to bear arms because the other fella has a right to bear arms.

One Very Courageous....

...Israeli Arab:

Post by Mohammad Zoabi.

Don't let Hamas know.

Push Back Has Begun...

Truth About The Middle East

Yup!

The Running Of The Bulls - Er -

make that goats:



PETA won't like this one either.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Steyn Again

I love the way this man uses language. Where else would you read the word "Phraudology"? He's referring to Michael Mann, who purportedly has a PhD, which of course makes him (Mann), and others, beyond reproach, at least those of the academic variety.


I'm Gonna Quash That Mann Right Out Of My Hair

Anyway this classic case of lawfare could very well be the final blow to the warmista's incessant blather. Unless that happens sooner. As Steyn points out, 17 years and 9 months of no warming is kinda hard to refute. Not that some won't try.

Looking Up

Egypt turns to Western advisers, signaling possible reforms

Still ain't gonna believe it till I see it, though.

"Western advisers are drawing up plans for reshaping the Egyptian economy, sources said, with the apparent blessing of president-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who so far has spoken only vaguely in public about reviving the state's finances.

The driving force behind the consulting project is the United Arab Emirates, which along with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since Sisi removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power last year, sources familiar with the exercise and businessmen told Reuters."

[---]

"Gulf allies opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood have extended a lifeline exceeding $12 billion in cash and petroleum products to help Egypt stave off economic collapse."

Aussies, Again

I Hope Digital Copies Of These Documents...

...will be posted online, translated to English, of course.

Iraqi Ambassador visits Stanford for Hoover Institution conference on Saddam-era documents

Things are not going well for Iraq, though: Post-Election Wave of Iraq Attacks Kills 74

Three Cheers For Egypt - I Guess

Egypt court sentences 10 Brotherhood supporters to death

He Gets It

Way To Go, Lowell!

Wolfcop premieres in Regina to a sold out crowd

I know the kid who made this movie. He and my son were best buds when they were kids. Lowell lived two doors down the street. They are still good friends. They used to make silly movies when they were kids. Now, it seems Lowell has made a career out of it.

Crime Central - In The Centre of Regina

Questions surrounding safety in Regina's Central Park

Indeed!

Israel’s achievements in science deserve some attention

Arabs, not so much.

About Damned Time

Government orders federal departments to keep tabs on all demonstrations across country.

Uh Huh

Accused Seattle gunman suffers severe mental illness, his lawyer says

"Ybarra confessed to police detectives that he was the gunman in Thursday's incident, that he had been planning a mass shooting and wanted to kill as many people as possible before taking his own life."

How did he get a gun then? Don't they do background checks?

D-Day

UPDATED AND BUMPED:

I will always remember my father.

Hip-Hip Hooray!!

Why are the French so obsessed with our Royal Family?

Except in Quebec, of course.

"If you head over to France for your summer holidays, you'd be forgiven for assuming they care not one jot for royals - particularly those from British shores. But for a people which rabbits on about republicanism as if they invented the thing, the French are obsessed with royalty - and, most notably, ours."

[---]

"Magazines like Gala and Paris Match burst forth with pretty much weekly bulletins on not only William and Kate, but also Harry and Cressida - and, unless I'm much mistaken, the 20-year-old go-go dancer who is said to have replaced Cressida. The Queen is revered sufficiently to suggest that, were she to emulate her predecessor Edward III and claim the throne of France, there'd be a decent vote in favour."

[---]

"You may, therefore, imagine the effervescence gripping the nation right now as HMQ arrives for her fifth state visit to France, to tie in with the 70th-anniversary of D-Day. There have naturally been problems. Traffic anarchy generated by the royal visit to the Arc-de-Triomphe and tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday afternoon was bound to annoy many Parisians. (Others retorted by telling them to belt up: if you live in Paris, get used to it.)"

[---]

"Far more important has been the "psychodrama of the hats". On discovering that the roof of the presidential Citroën DS5 was unlikely to be high enough to accommodate both the Queen and her hat, alarmed French protocol chaps sought an alternative. Dismissing the suggestion of a people carrier ("For the Queen??"), they bagged a Renault VelSatis which, though not very good at motoring, will allow the Queen to sit up straight, be-hatted. It will also be an interesting change from the new Diamond Jubilee state coach she used to get to the opening of Parliament - underlining many of the essential differences between a monarchy and a republic."

[---]

"...when the Queen joins 19 other heads of state in Normandy - and back in Paris on Saturday, when she visits the Flower Market on the Ile-de-la-Cité. Henceforth, the market will be known as Le Marché Aux Fleurs Reine Elizabeth II;"

[---]

"The welcome extended to the Queen isn't simply that accorded to a celebrity, though certain French commentators claim there's little difference. Nor is the interest only ironic, as smarter folk like to pretend. Whatever these people say, it's obvious that the Queen, especially, has real status in France. Of course, she has entertainment value but she's also an embodiment of so many of the things which the French admire in the British - the spirit of "fair-play" (for which there's no French word), restraint, elegance and resolution under stress and a frankly outrageous taste in headgear."

[---]

"...somehow, her very presence and bearing suggests that Britain is a country worthy of respect. Certainly - listen up, British republicans - she generates a warmth and fascination within France which is experienced by no other nation. It goes without saying that the British also exasperate the French, as vice versa. But it's the exasperation of close-ish relatives. As the Queen herself has said in the past, we may drive on different sides of the road, but we're going in the same direction.

Vitally, this time, the Queen is a living link with the past being commemorated. France's current ambassador to the UK, Bernard Emié, put it best: "With Queen Elizabeth II, we meet our own history, but also our liberty. For it's to her people, to her father George VI, to the man who became her prime-minister, Winston Churchill that we owe the welcome extended to General de Gaulle and the Free French in London - and then, with the Allies, the liberation of France."

Same goes for the Yanks.

China, Before Communism

Ancient Chinese Inventions

Absolutely fascinating!

Don't Do It!

Uh, huh

Sisi won 96.91 percent in Egypt's presidential vote

"But turnout was only about 47 percent of the country's 54 million voters, it said. That was less than the 40 million votes, or 80 percent of the electorate, Sisi had called for."

[---]

"He now faces staggering challenges in a country where street demonstrations have helped to topple two leaders in three years.

The lower-than-expected turnout raises doubts about Sisi's ability to maintain popularity while attempting to fix a battered economy, ease poverty and prevent further political crises from paralysing Egypt."

[---]

"The general, who toppled Egypt's first freely elected president, also described the future as a blank page that must be filled with bread, freedom, human dignity and social justice.

Those same slogans were uttered in the 2011 popular uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak and raised hopes of a democracy free of influence from the military."

[---]

Fireworks could be heard downtown and in other parts of the capital, which has witnessed frequent street violence since security forces began a relentless crackdown against the Brotherhood after Mursi's fall.

"Sisi saved us from the nightmare we were living in. Egypt was falling and he has raised us up," said Nadia Ibrahim, 50, who works in a computer shop.

Hundreds of Mursi supporters have been killed and thousands arrested. The movement's top leader has been sentenced to death and other prominent figures could face a similar fate.

Authorities declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group and the movement, which won nearly every election since Mubarak's fall, was demonised by state and private media."

"Critics view Sisi as another strongman who will rule with an iron fist, protect the interests of the military and crush dissent the same way his predecessors did. Sisi has promised to bring democracy to Egypt.

Human rights groups say abuses have spread since Mursi's downfall, with opponents of the government that Sisi installed thrown in jail and tortured. Authorities deny that abuses occur."

I'll believe it when I see it.

Oh My!!!