What Could Possibly Be...

...the reason for this?

Angry Italians demand an end to the rescuing of hordes of Muslim illegal alien boat people

Deep Freeze

I'm sitting here with two jackets on, a pair of woolen gloves and a blanket covering my legs. I'm sipping on some hot chocolate. It's freakin' cold outside and, despite having the thermostat jacked up as high as it will go, having the oven on with the door wide open, it is cold in the house.

We usually have a ten day to two week period of extreme cold every winter but it normally comes in late January or early February. I sure hope this cold spell we're having right now is just the annual deep freeze come a bit early. If we get another one in January/February I might have to set the house on fire just to keep warm. BRRRRRRRRRRRR. Or move to Florida.

The Kurds Should Rule the Middle East

Heavy fighting resumes in Kobane between Kurdish forces and ISIS

"Khazyavayi said coalition fighter jets have also bombarded ISIS positions around the city at least four times today.

“ISIS hasn’t been able to make any advance,” he said. “On the contrary the Peshmerga and Peoples Protection Units (YPG) are moving forward and ISIS is on the retreat.”

YPG commanders say that they now control about 80 percent of the city and that coalition airstrikes have taken their toll on the ISIS militants."

Just for the Helluvit

Pipelines in NA:

1st

2nd

So, you think one more is going to make a big difference?

A Marked Man

You Go, Brad

Brad Wall: Ontario and Quebec would benefit most from Energy East pipeline

Brad Wall concerned about ‘unnecessary barriers’ to pipeline project

Or we could just build a refinery in Saskatchewan and "let them eastern bastards freeze in the dark".

Wow!! Just Wow!!

From an Arab, yet!!

If I Were Israeli…

From May 26, 1922

"Except over a small area, it is generally understood, the glaciers of the world are retreating to the mountains. The glacier on Mount Sermiento in South America, which descended to the sea when Darwin found it in 1836, is now separated from the shore by a vigorous growth of timber. The Jacobshaven glacier in Greenland has retreated four miles since 1850, and the East glacier in Spitzbergen is more than a milk away from its original terminal moraine. In Scandinavia the snowline is further up the mountains, and the glaciers have withdrawn 3,000ft. from the lowlands in a century. The Araphoe glacier in the Rocky Mountains, with characteristic American enterprise, has been melting at a rapid rate for several years. In the Eastern Alps and one or two other small districts the glaciers are growing. In view of these facts we should not be too sceptical when old men assure us that winters nowadays are not to be compared with the winters of their boyhood."

At Long Last!!!

The West has found its backbone:

This state voted to ban Islamic laws and Muslims are mad

Dutch MP calls for removal of all mosques in Netherlands

Is Russia Preparing to Ban Islam?

And if you still haven't figured out why, read this:

Teen Girl Converts To Islam For Muslim Lover, Doesn’t Turn Out As Planned

Decades?

90,000 homes left without power as worst storm in decades hits Brisbane

You mean storms of this magnitude have happened before???? Can't be. /sarc

(I am very amused every time a headline like this appears. Leftards think this is new, but the report claims otherwise, to which, of course, the leftards are oblivious.)

When They're Killing Each Other...

Triple bomb blasts kill 92 outside Nigeria mosque

Nigeria unrest: Kano mosque attack 'kills dozens'

2 suicide bombers caused Kano Mosque carnage

At least 35 people killed, many wounded in Nigerian mosque attack

Bomb blast hits mosque in Nigeria; high number of casualties feared

Financialese Spoken Here

I don't understand a lot of this, but it seems to be good news:

Canada's economy grows at 2.8 per cent annual pace in third quarter

Mind you, we are closing in on the end of the fourth quarter, so things may be different by now.

Gee, What Happened to the Default Position?

What's killing the alligators of the Florida Everglades?

It's global warming, stupid.

How Much Do You Wanna Bet...

...there's a contract out to take off this Imam's head:

Delegation of Imams from Senegal visits Yad Vashem

""Today we learned of the worst act in history – the extermination of the Jews in Europe, an act that cannot be explained," said Imam El Hadji Omar Diene, the Secretary General of the National Association of Imams, who visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem this week with a delegation of six other Muslim religious leaders.

"We are all equal humans, every human, from every race, religion and gender, and no religious justification can be found to kill and exterminate those who are different. The tour let us deeply understand Israel and the Jews and we bless connections between nations," said Imam Diene after the visit."

[---]

"Senegal is an important and influential African country with 90 percent of citizens Muslims.

The delegation also visited the Temple Mount and prayed at the al-Aqsa mosque as well as the Western Wall.

The group of Imams will also meet President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday in addition to visit to Haifa and Acre where they will meet rabbis.

The purpose of the visit was to deepen the familiarity of the Imams with the political and social aspects of Israeli society and promote interfaith and cultural dialogue in order to strengthen the ties between the two countries."

And Another Myth Bites the Dust

More good stuff from the same guy:

The Black Death

Bubonic Plague Outbreak Kills 40 In Madagascar

Plague in the United States

Plague

"Plague is a deadly infectious disease....

Until June 2007, plague was one of the three epidemic diseases specifically reportable to the World Health Organization (the other two being cholera and yellow fever)."

[--]

"Plague is still endemic in some parts of the world."

Yikes!!! What with this and ebola, I think Mom Nature is culling this planet.

Watch This Man Become Rich and Famous

'Fart pill' gives gas 'the scent of chocolate'

"Christian Poincheval, 65, of Gesvres, said his Lutin Malin -- or Crafty Imp -- line of pills can make a customer's bodily gases smell like chocolate, roses or violets.

Poincheval developed the chocolate scent specially for Christmas."

Got someone on your list you just never know what to get? Problem solved.

Canada's Political System Explained, Etc.

Still waiting for the NDP to be knocked out.

United Kingdom explained:

This Needs No Title...

 ...These sketches speak for themselves:












One that isn't in there is where they are sitting around trying to outdo each other with stories of how bad they had it when they were growing up.  I sure do miss them. Then there's this:



Found it:

Empires

You Go, Tarek!!!

Related: Grieving Afghan mother takes bloody revenge by killing 25 Taliban militants during seven hour battle after they gunned down her son

For the Brain Dead Among Us

CO2 Fairytales in Global Warming

"Of course we know now that CO2 was rolled out as the "poster child" nemesis against the environment. It was meant to get us hysterical enough to plead with our politicians to exact a tax on our carbon footprints so that we can save the planet earth. But it's turning out that the CO2 "poster child" has significant problems. Despite the fact that Carbon is a part of the CO2 molecule, the atmospheric science of CO2 directly contradicts what the AGW alarmists are trying to sell us. Promoting CO2 as the environmental monkey on our back is absolutely ludicrous. CO2 is friend to all life, not a foe."

[---]

"current CO2 levels hover around 385 parts per million (ppm), a relatively minor constituent of earth's entire atmosphere -- less than 4/100ths of 1% of all gases present.

Nevertheless, Anthropogenic (man-made) Global Warming (AGW) proponents demand that unless we immediately reduce the amount of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere to less than 350 ppm, we (that is mankind) will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

Historically, and at one significant point indeed, CO2 atmospheric concentrations were much, much higher, 6,000 plus ppm. And guess what? The earth was more than just fine. It was incredibly filled with life.""

"The chart is fairly easy to understand. Note the Black Line on the chart representing "Atmospheric CO2." See how it has been declining for the past 500 million years? Also note that in the Cambrian Age, some 570 million years ago, all of life -- "all" meaning all 34 current animal phyla -- appeared to suddenly explode upon the earth's surface (left-hand side of the chart). Atmospheric CO2 concentrations at that time were estimated to be close to 7,000 ppm. That's a CO2 concentration of 7000 ppm then, 385 ppm now."

[---]

"At the time on earth when life seems to have blossomed beyond anything that we've seen, CO2 concentrations were the highest that have ever been recorded. In other words, high concentrations of CO2 didn't seem to have the least ill effect on the greatest expansion of life in the history of the earth.

In fact, it could be argued that the abundance of life arose precisely because high atmospheric CO2 concentrations were soaring; certainly not because of its absence. To be sure, high atmospheric CO2 concentrations and warm temperatures acted to usher in all life on earth. Compared to former geologic times, earth's current atmosphere is unequivocally and fundamentally CO2- impoverished.

So if, as we are led to believe by the AGW crowd, CO2 is a pollutant that will harm all life when its concentrations exceed 350 ppm, how "on earth" did life suddenly explode upon the planet when atmospheric CO2 concentrations were almost 7,000 ppm?"

There's more at the link.

You Go Girls!!

Iranian Cleric Beaten by Women after Ordering Them to Wear Hijab

"An Iranian cleric has claimed he was beaten by two women outside a mosque after he warned one of them to cover up.

Hojatoleslam (a middle ranking cleric) Ali Beheshti told the semi-official Mehr news agency that he advised one of the women, whom he believed was not properly dressed, to cover her eyes.

"She responded to me by saying: 'You [should] close your eyes," the cleric said, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Ali Beheshti, a leading religious figure in the city of Shahrmirzad, repeated the warning to the woman, saying their attire did not follow the Islamic dress code that became compulsory after the 1979 revolution.

"Not only didn't she not cover herself up but she also insulted me. I asked her not to insult me any more but she started shouting and threatening me," Beheshti said.

"She pushed me and I fell to the ground on my back. From that point on, I don't know what happened. I was just feeling the kicks of the women who were beating me up.""

Erdogan: Women are not equal to men

"Lawyer and women's rights activist Hulya Gulbahar said Erdogan's comments were in violation of Turkey's constitution, Turkish laws and international conventions on gender equality and didn't help efforts to stem high incidences of violence against women in Turkey.


"Such comments by state officials which disregard equality between men and women play an important role in the rise of violence against women," Gulbahar said. "Such comments aim to make women's presence in public life - from politics to arts, from science to sports - debatable."


Erdogan, a devout Muslim, often courts controversy with divisive public comments. He has previously angered women's groups by stating that women should bear at least three children and by attempting to outlaw abortion and adultery."

There is hope yet.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

The Lamestream Media Stikes Again

They really are trying to get Harper elected again:

He's Mean!

I must admit, though, I was laughing myself.  I wanted to get a pail of sand the make it safer.

A Feel-Good Story...

...for a sappy person like me:

"Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on
vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band -he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window.The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Post by BuzzFeed Video.

Wanna Make Me Bawl Like A Baby?

Play a video like this one:

So Much For Peer Review

"Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List" is an actual science paper accepted by a journal

Wow!

UPDATED AND BUMPED:  And China, too:



1.4 billion or roughly another 19% of the world's population!!

============Original Starts Here=============

Modi Revives India-Israel Ties as Terrorism Threat Grows

With potentially 1.3 billion people, or 19% of the world's population, on your side, it's hard to see what can go wrong.

"Modi’s public overtures to Israel since his Hindu-dominated Bharatiya Janata Party won a landslide election in May are bolstering a defense relationship as both countries face threats from Islamic terrorists. The previous Congress-led government kept ties with Israel quiet, partly over concerns it’d antagonize Muslim voters the party relied on for support.

“The relationship is coming out of the closet,” said Sadanand Dhume, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “This is unquestionably the most pro-Israel government in India’s history. It’s one of the many signals of a more assertive India and one that takes terrorism very seriously.”"

[---]

"Modi called for an international strategy to defeat terrorism while addressing Australia’s parliament this week, several months after accusing neighboring Pakistan of resorting to terrorism because it can’t win a conventional war. The countries have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, which is divided between them and claimed in full by both."

[---]

"While India’s foreign ministry says its friendship with Palestine is “an integral part of our time-tested foreign policy,” signs of a shift toward Israel were seen shortly after Modi’s BJP became the first party in 30 years to win a majority in India’s parliament. Swaraj, the foreign minister, in July rejected a request by opposition lawmakers for a resolution condemning Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Music From The 50s And 60s

Good stuff even if it's a bit corny. This is what I grew up listening to:

Heavy Sigh

Looking out my window this morning I see school kids trudging off to school all decked out in their winter duds - snow suits, parkas, woolen hats, mitts and scarves. I was so hoping some of that global warming would find us. /sarc

What'll They Do Now?

Controversial new DNA study: Gay gene discovered

"The New Scientist reports that researchers have recently discovered concrete evidence of a gay gene. The study was based on an analysis of 409 pairs of gay brothers, including twins. The results give further support to the notion that homosexuals are born gay."

Gay Gene Discovery Is Important For Multiple Reasons

"It should be obvious to anyone that sexual orientation is not a choice, that no one actually decides whether to be either straight or gay."

[---]

"The study focused on 409 pairs of gay brothers, and the team ultimately found genetic markers on regions of the X chromosome and chromosome 8 which provide further evidence supporting the theory that homosexuality is hereditary. Sanders himself made bold claims about the impact of his study, claiming, “It erodes the notion that sexual orientation is a choice.” "

Largest ever study into the gay gene 'erodes the notion that sexual orientation is a choice'

"Sanders does not claim to have identified a single gene which ‘causes’ male homosexuality in humans and stresses that with complex human traits like sexual orientation there are many influencing factors, both genetic and environmental."

[---]

"neuroscientist Simon LeVay commented: “This study knocks another nail into the coffin of the 'chosen lifestyle' theory of homosexuality.”

[--]

Commenting on the research to The Independent, Richard Lane of LGBT rights charity Stonewall echoed Allen's reaction, saying: "While some people may choose to focus on the continuing debate of whether people are born gay or not, we'll continue to focus on making sure everyone has the same rights and opportunities regardless of who they love."

I suspect some people will be quite content to ignore this.

What Are Harper's Chances Of Another Win Come Next Election?

Interesting article, especially the last paragraph:

"Maybe he’ll just be prime minister forever. In 2015 he will still be three years younger than Jean Chrétien was when the Liberal politician won the first of three consecutive majorities. But you hear more pundits betting on Harper’s downfall than on his triumph.

He ignores them. When’s the last time the conventional wisdom bet on Stephen Harper? Not in 2006, when the leader, then deemed to be devoid of charisma, first ascended to power by beating Paul Martin to form a minority government. And not even as recently as 2013, when Mike Duffy was hanging around his neck like the world’s biggest albatross, a popular bet in the Bytown saloons was that Harper would quit before Labour Day. Instead, as 2014 closes, the Commons debates are about whether his tax cuts are deep enough, universal enough, generous enough. That’s the kind of debate Harper has prayed for.

Winning a fourth consecutive election would be incredibly difficult. But he’ll go into the next campaign with the federal budget balanced and, he hopes, the bloom off Justin Trudeau’s rose. He has always sought to run as the sensible incumbent against reckless sorcerers’ apprentices. Within that frame, small surpluses are useful: there’s not enough money in the kitty to pay for Liberal-sized or NDP-sized ambitions. “Don’t vote for big spenders” is not a message to stir the heart.

But he doesn’t need to stir the heart. He needs to win. Only two other men have won four consecutive elections: John A. Macdonald and Wilfrid Laurier. Even Harper’s own supporters might blanche at the notion that he should rank in their company. But you count this guy out at your peril."

Absolutely Fascinating

A history of the Great Wall of China - why it was built, how it was built and the genius of the Chinese people:

Canadians Of Convenience

This article (For Arab immigrants, a Canadian passport and a GCC job may no longer mix) is a bit old, but not by much. It deals with immigrants from the Arab world bitching about changes to the process and rules governing the road to Canadian citizenship. It seems the old "Canadians of convenience" phenomena is no longer all that easy to pull off. Too bad. So sad. (Note that it deals exclusively with immigrants from Arab countries.)

Even Liberals seem to be reluctantly onside:

"McCallum and his colleague, MP John McKay of the Scarborough-Guildwood riding, focused on attacking the Conservative government for proposing to expand powers to revoke citizenship, but stopped short of criticizing the new residency requirement—newcomers’ major complaint."(Emphasis mine.)

And then here's this: ‘Comedy of errors’ lets woman become Canadian citizen despite abysmal results on citizenship tests

You Go Girl!

Hirsi Ali slams feminism's 'trivial BS'

"Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a harsh critic of Islam’s treatment of women, said Wednesday that modern American feminism is focused on “trivial bullshit” and needs to be reclaimed."

We got what we fought for in the sixties and seventies, now quit your bitching.

Queen Rania

Jordan's Queen Rania in powerful attack on ISIS for 'hijacking' the Arab world with horror beheadings on social media that 'drag us back to the Dark Ages'

Let's hope she has some influence. Being a woman, I doubt her thoughts will carry much weight in some quarters, tho.

But she has this right: "...silence of moderates made them complicit in ISIS' success"

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

Freezing Our Buns Off

Post by Predator Ridge Resort.

Welcome To Buffalo, NY

Looks like they could use some of that global warming right about now.

I Had Never Heard Of These People

Good luck to them.

And here's another interesting article about the Kurds.

Yup

Post by Britain First.

It's About Damned Time

Young British Muslims Are Campaigning Against The Islamic State's Corruption Of Their Religion - #NotInMyName

If it is my son in beheading video, he should be executed, says father

Pardon me if I remain skeptical, tho.

Another Momentous Occasion

I can't believe it's been 25 years:

Czech Republic Slovakia: Velvet Revolution at 25

The Sky Is Falling - The Sky Is Falling

Hang In There, Old Trooper

Gordie Howe 'not doing well at all' in recovery from stroke, son Mark says

Previously.

Who Knew???

Santa is raaaaacist.

And he gets around:

Toronto

Winnipeg

Nova Scotia

Indiana

Thunder Bay


Waterloo-Kitchener


Yellowknife

New Zealand

He does get around, doesn't he.

But he won't be getting any toys himself this year: He's been bad.

Hmmmmmm.

Among other things, Vlad was also criticized for the downing of flight MH17. And when he gets home, he's faced with this:

Work starts in Ukraine to collect wreckage of MH17

"Recovery workers in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine began to collect debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on Sunday, four months after the plane was brought down.

The operation is being carried out under the supervision of Dutch investigators and officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The recovered fragments will be loaded onto trains and ferried to the government-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The investigation into the cause of the crash is being conducted there and in the Netherlands."

Geeze. Can't a tyrant get a break?

A Short But Thorough Summary....

...clarifying what's wrong with the warmanist's hysteria:


CO2 Increase Is Not a Nemesis, Science Shows

This short piece uses a bulleted list and short concise paragraphs. No excuse now, warmanistas.

Puttin' The Boots To Putin

Putin leaves G20 after Harper and other leaders press him on actions in Ukraine

Putin to leave G-20 Summit early; doesn't like being criticized over Ukraine

Is there such a thing as a tantrum in international politics? If there is, I think we've just witnessed one.

Old Songs...

...that my parents would have listened to on their radios and danced to in the dance halls:

10 Classic Songs from the World War II Era

Brings back memories of my childhood and my mother playing the piano.

My Niece In The News...

...in a good way: Crime victim praises restorative justice during Saskatoon event

What The Hell...

...is Putin trying to do?

Russia angers the Aussies

House approves Keystone XL pipeline as Senate vote awaits

There's No Two Ways About It

This has got to be Islamophobia:

Norway Deports Record Number of Muslims, Crime Drops Dramatically!

UPDATED AND BUMPED: 

David Cameron: I will ban British jihadists who fight for Isil in Syria and Iraq for two years

Why just two years, Mr. Cameron?

Still, it's nice to see the "old world" is beginning to find its backbone, and it looks like it is:

Grass roots movement to drive Muslims out of Germany is growing rapidly

NORWAY: New right wing government is kicking out foreign criminals, most of them Muslims

Rightwing, huh? And where is the leftwing on this issue? Wringing their hands and sweating bullets. Can't be. Bullets are so....so....you know....bigoted, etc., etc., etc.. Puke.

Evidence of Viking Outpost Found in Canada


(Emphasis mine throughout.)

"For the past 50 years—since the discovery of a thousand-year-old Viking way station in Newfoundland—archaeologists and amateur historians have combed North America's east coast searching for traces of Viking visitors.

It has been a long, fruitless quest, littered with bizarre claims and embarrassing failures. But at a conference in Canada earlier this month, archaeologist Patricia Sutherland announced new evidence that points strongly to the discovery of the second Viking outpost ever discovered in the Americas."

[---]

"While digging in the ruins of a centuries-old building on Baffin Island (map), far above the Arctic Circle, a team led by Sutherland, adjunct professor of archaeology at Memorial University in Newfoundland and a research fellow at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, found some very intriguing whetstones. Wear grooves in the blade-sharpening tools bear traces of copper alloys such as bronze—materials known to have been made by Viking metalsmiths but unknown among the Arctic's native inhabitants.

Taken together with her earlier discoveries, Sutherland's new findings further strengthen the case for a Viking camp on Baffin Island. "While her evidence was compelling before, I find it convincing now," said James Tuck, professor emeritus of archaeology, also at Memorial University." 

Tim Ball Nails It

Well worth the hour and three quarters it will take to watch the whole thing:

Canadian English

Some pretty interesting stuff here, including regional differences and ongoing changes in the way we speak, as well as the very nature of language itself. Eh?

More BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

That's my idea of exercise.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Actual Exchanges Between Pilots and Control Towers

Pan Am 727 flight, waiting for clearance in Munich, overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German):

"Ground. What is your start clearance time?"

Ground. In English:. "If you want an answer, you must speak English."

Lufthansa (in English):"I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?"

Unknown voice from another plane (in beautiful English accent): "Because you lost the bloody war!"

Others at that site are pretty good, too, especially the one about the dead animal at the end of the runway. Must be Air Canada.

Did Anyone Hear About This One?

I didn't:

Religion of Peace Update: Honor Beheading of Cab-Driver in Windsor, Canada

It was a few years ago, but still.

From an American blogger, yet.

I'm About To Post Something That Is Raaaacist

Heroes both:

I Do Remember Them

Peanut Butter Is A Girl's...

...best friend:

German Scientist Makes Diamonds Out of Peanut Butter

This Explains Some Of...

...the comenters at SNN's website:


Internet Trolls Are Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Sadists

No Comment

Virus that 'makes humans more stupid' discovered

Thank You Israel!

Kevin Vickers to be honoured by Israeli Knesset

Nice Friends You Have There...

...Baby Trudeau:

Nigeria school blast in Potiskum kills dozens

"A suicide bomber dressed as a student is believed to have caused the blast at the boys' school in Yobe state.

Police suggested the militant group Boko Haram carried out the attack.

Yobe state's governor has shut all public schools around Potiskum and criticised the government for not tackling the group.

In a statement governor Ibrahim Gaidam said: "Urgent action must be taken right now to restore a fast-waning public confidence by doing whatever it takes to stop the escalating violence."

Boko Haram has targeted schools during a deadly five-year insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic state.

It is waging a sustained campaign to prevent children from going to school. It believes girls should not attend school and boys should only receive an Islamic education.

However thousands of people, not just schoolchildren, have been killed by the group."

Today In Israel

Sweet Revenge

How three Jewish teenagers exacted justice without really trying.

The day a Holocaust survivor got revenge on his tormentor

I'm Curious...

...did this decision take place before the mid-terms or after?

U.S. Military To Send Up To 1,500 Additional Troops To Iraq

"President Obama will send up to 1,500 additional American troops to Iraq to help security forces there combat Islamic State militants, the White House said."

[---]

"There are currently about 1,400 American troops in Iraq."

Everything You've Always Wanted To Know...

...about flatulence. Well, didn't you?

11 Extremely Important Facts About Farting

The Berlin Wall

At Least 1 Million to Celebrate 25 Years Since Berlin Wall Fell

Youzers. I remember when the wall came down. It was hard to believe. Afterward it was a bit dicey integrating the two Germanies into one. The formerly East Germans had a difficult time functioning in a free, capitalist society.

Then there was the time when everybody wanted a small piece of the wall to put on their mantel or in their curio cabinet. It certainly was a history changing event.

Previously.

Look Out American Friends

You're about to be polar vortexed again. Oh, and ya'll are welcome. And we're sorry. ;p

More Shit You Can't Make Up

I've been to yard sales that would verify this:

18 Conspiracy Theories

Best one, in my opinion, is #17:

"Hot dogs are sold in packs of ten while their buns are sold in packs of eight. You have to buy 4 packs of hot dogs to 5 packs of buns to have enough. I suspect that Big BBQ has control of the packaging for these to specifically entice you into buying more."

Big BBQ. They're behind everything. You heard it here first. Read em all.

I've Been Following This Resurfacing...

...of the Tamra Keepness story. Turns out this latest twist is a sick and cruel hoax. I hope they find the perp behind it and he or she gets what they deserve.

Democracy At It's Finest

Gorbi Weighs In...

...and confirms what I've been thinking for some time:

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warns world ‘on brink of new Cold War’

Thanks Putin.

And They Still Don't Get It

On climate, the Right is right – Global temperature update: the Pause is still 18 years 1 month

Maybe they just don't know how to count.

You Know Me

I love history:

Japan's Kamikaze Winds, the Stuff of Legend, May Have Been Real

"Storms in 1200s could have helped thwart attacks by Mongolian Emperor Kublai Khan's fleets, a study of lake sediments finds."

And prehistory:

Europe Was a Melting Pot From the Start, Ancient DNA Reveals

"Scraps of DNA harvested from a tiny fragment of the man's 37,000-year-old leg bone show that, genetically speaking, he was remarkably similar to people living in Europe today."

And I'm fresh out of snark, so I'll have the leave it at that.

The Way Back Machine

Yet another expose the Indian Industry won't like:

American Indian Murder, Inc.

Remember the murder of Anna May Aquash? And the American Indian Movement (AIM)? Details are finally coming out.

This Theory Has Been Around...

...for a while, but the evidence in support of it keeps piling up:

Do tools belonging to Stone Age hunters found on U.S. east coast prove the first Americans came from Europe NOT Asia?

"Finding the tools is being heralded as one of the most important archaeological breakthroughs for several decades.

Archaeologists are hopeful that they will add another dimension to understanding the spread of humans across the world.

Three of the sites were discovered by archaeologist Dr Darrin Lowery of the University of Delaware, while another one is in Pennsylvania and a fifth site is in Virginia.

Fishermen discovered a sixth on a seabed 60 miles from the Virginian coast, which in prehistoric times would have been dry land."

[---]

"Buoyed by the recent discovery, archaeologists are now turning to new locations in Tennessee, Maryland and even Texas, all sites which are they believe will produce more Stone Age evidence.

But most of the areas where the newcomers stepped off the ice on to dry land are now up to 100 miles out to sea - along with any possible evidence."

Ever heard of underwater archeology?

Ah, Poor Vlad /sarc

Russia's Currency Is Plummeting and Putin's Billionaires Are Cannibalizing Each Other

He must be longing for the days of the centrally planned economy handled by the politburo.

"The ruble has been nosediving for weeks, despite the fact that the Russian Central Bank has spent some $40 billion over the last two months to prop it up. In January, you would have to shell out 32.86 rubles to buy one U.S. dollar. Through October, that number edged higher and higher into the thirties, prompting nervous jokes from Russians as they watched their national currency lose value before their eyes. By November 1, a Russian would need to scrape together over 43 rubles to buy one U.S. dollar, a drop of over 30 percent.

Every day since November 1 has brought new lows for the ruble. By Wednesday, the Russian Central Bank, which had been spending billions of its reserve dollars every day to prop up the Russian currency, announced it was no longer going to do so. It was going to let the ruble float. (Technically speaking, it said that it would “only” spend $350 million a day to prop up the ruble.)

The ruble promptly nosedived."

[---]

"On Friday, the exchange rate was being tracked not by the day, but by the minute. The ruble had collapsed to a historic low: nearly 49 rubles to the dollar, nearly 60 rubles to the Euro."

[---]

"This isn’t a theoretical currency game. Much of what you see in Russia is imported, especially what the Russian middle class eats, drives, and wears. And the weaker the ruble, the fewer dollar-denominated iPhones you can buy with it. A crashing ruble makes prices do the opposite. According to the Russian government, projected inflation will hit somewhere between nine and 9.5 percent. Last year, it was 6.5 percent. In the U.S., for comparison, inflation is just 1.7 percent."

[---]

"There are several factors that have caused the ruble to disintegrate before our eyes.

One is the ongoing stagnation of the Russian economy, whose growth rate has been hovering near zero for a year. And before that, it was already in decline.

Second is the falling price of oil for reasons that have nothing to do with Russia(Emphasis mine): OPEC trying to undercut its American competition. This is a problem for Russia, which is so heavily dependent on oil that every year’s federal budget is pegged to an oil price.(Emphasis mine) This year’s was $97 a barrel. Next year’s will be $96. Meanwhile, oil prices have been far lower than that, hovering in the low eighties.

Third is Russia’s Ukraine adventure and Western sanctions. “Sanctions closed access to foreign capital for five or six Russian companies, but the result is that it’s now closed for everyone,” says Sergey Aleksashenko, a former Russian deputy minister of finance. The result is that, to pay off their debts, Russian companies now have to buy a large amount of dollars to fork over to their creditors. And with that comes the psychological factor: panic."

So...what if Canada's Energy East pipeline is meant to do what I think it's meant to do - steal Russia's oil market from under their feet? Better have our northern border well guarded.

RTWT

I Love, Love, Love...

...the study of history. One damn thing after another.

I've Never Been Afraid Of Flying...

...but I am now, after watching this:

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

We won. NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA.

About Damn Time

Conservatives propose increasing legal marriage age to 16, say it will keep ‘barbaric cultural practices’ out of Canada

"The government is proposing to set 16 as the national age of marriage in legislation introduced in the House of Commons on Wednesday that it says will help keep “barbaric cultural practices” out of Canada.

The bill tabled by Chris Alexander, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, targets early forced marriages as well as polygamy, which the legislation would make grounds for deportation.

The Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act would make it a criminal offence to participate in or officiate at the marriage of an underage child. Removing a child from Canada for the purposes of forced marriage would also be criminalized.

The Justice department has also asked the provinces to have judges sign off on marriages involving those between the ages of 16 and adulthood. Currently only parental consent is required and the minimum age for marriage varies by province and, by some interpretations, is as low as seven."

As low as seven!! Wow!!!! I didn't know that. My granddaughters are close to that age. I can't imagine them being married. They're too lippy, for one thing.

About Those Stalwart Ukrainian-Canadians

Ukrainians in Canada could be game-changers in federal election

"Federal political parties have been staunchly showing support for pro-Western aspirations in Ukraine and condemning Russian aggression in the Crimean peninsula. The fact there are more than 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian descent may help explain this."

Previously.

ROTFLMAO!!!!

Capitalism Explained

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Tom Brokaw's phone goes off midway through his election coverage.

I Smell An Election Coming

Tory government to table Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act

"Canada will ban people who participate in "barbaric cultural practices" from immigrating to Canada, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said Wednesday.

He said the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which will be tabled Wednesday, focuses on polygamy and forced marriages.

He said the bill will make it clear to anyone wishing to enter the country — as well as those born in Canada — that domestic violence, genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy are illegal in Canada and "won't be tolerated.""

That howling you hear is Liberals with their knickers in a knot.

BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Damn climate didn't cooperate.

Logan Loves His

baby brother:

At Last...

...someone tells the truth:

The Real Number Of Hours Teachers Work In One Eye-Opening Graphic

"The real teaching day is around 12-16 hours a day."

• standard teaching day - 8 hours (includes supervision of students on the playground, in the lunch room, during, before and after school)
• 1 hour - come before school or come after school to offer extra help to those who need it
•  3 to 5 hours - day by day planning, grading answering emails, making home phone calls, making home visits, attending meetings required by school district, holding teacher parent conferences, etc.
• in the summer months, spring and Christmas break teachers spend:
• continuing education to keep up with the latest research in their field (two to four weeks)
• three weeks planning for upcoming term
• four weeks getting ready for work: most teachers need to show up one month before school starts to participate in meetings, training, etc. (That might be a bit of an exaggeration. My experience has been one week in advance of the return of the students, and frequently during the Christmas and spring breaks.  But, still, you have to be ready for when the students show up, and by ready, I mean not just lessons and units prepared but have the classroom all spiffed up to go along with the lessons and units and this has to be done several times a year. Nobody else does that for you.)

Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do

They're out there....

The giant stone circles in the Middle East no one can explain

I'm extremely curious about these circles. The one called Stonehenge, in England, is a long, long way from Syria, especially in those days. Did the idea spread by word of mouth, carrier pigeon, extraterrestrials or what?

Back Where It All Began...

...Tunisian Voters Say No to Islamists

"Tunisia just held a parliamentary election and Ennahda, the sort-of-moderate-but-not-really Islamist party lost to the ardently secular Nidaa Tounes, which translates into Call of Tunisia.

Ennahda is the Tunisian Branch of the Muslim Brotherhood under another name, and it wears a more moderate face than the Egyptian branch. Tunisia is a genuinely moderate country and Ennahda’s leaders have no choice but to tone down their rhetoric and their platform if they want to seriously compete in elections."

[---]

"Tunisian politics might be more coherent if a viable mainstream conservative party were to compete with a more-brazen Ennahda and split the votes of religious moderates and religious extremists, but Ennahda certainly won’t split itself. The Islamists would have even fewer seats in the parliament if that were to happen. Ennahda can’t even win an election with its ostensibly moderate platform.

Much hay is being made of the fact that a large percentage of Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq hail from Tunisia. We can speculate about the reasons for that, but I can tell you with absolute confidence that it’s not because Tunisia has a broader base of support for totalitarian political Islam than other Muslim countries.

On the contrary, Tunisia is the most liberal Arab country in the world. I’ve known that for a decade. In such marked contrast to Egypt, Libya, and Syria, it has emerged from the upheavals of the Arab Spring as a more-or-less properly functioning democracy. On January 26, 2014, Tunisia ratified the most liberal constitution in the entire Arab world."

Bit by bit.

A Few Good...

...laughs, especially the first one. "If a man speaks his mind in a forest, and no one hears him, is he still wrong?"

An Interview With Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Talks Frankly on How To Defeat Islamic Terrorism

With Christmas Just Around The Corner

Opps.

Can't have that, can we, now:

The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

Coming up, November 9th. Twenty five years.

I can't believe it's been so long.

Sitemeter Sightings

For some reason, this here entry on this here blog has been getting a huge number of hits: The Left and Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Reason #1,259 Why We Don't Need the CBC

Can't say for sure, but I betcha it has something to do with the Jian Ghomeshi scandal. Please, Harper. Put us out of our misery and privatize the wretched thing.

The Anglosphere...

...drifting apart.

It's About Damned Time!!!

Winnipeg Muslims rally against terrorism

Winnipeg Muslims rally in support of Canada's soldiers

I hope they have body guards.

Truer words.....

Well, That's A Big...

...name:

‘I am sceptical humans are causing global warming’: Buzz Aldrin says more research - and less politics - is needed

But then again, what does he, a mere astronaut, know?