Nova Scotia Scott

I know it’s Easter Monday but, even so, this “news item” has no business on the front page of today’s Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Superstore change is in bag Grocer to alter checkout routine, charge for plastic bags, offer array of reusable sacks Shoppers may notice a slight change to the bagging procedure in Superstores as of [...]

Government threatens a citizen who cleaned up a local eyesore, proving once again that no good deed shall go unpunished. An old story, I know, but it never fails to outrage. Every spring since 2001, Gaston Soucy of Hartlen Point, Nova Scotia, has been cleaning up wind-blown litter from a vacant lot near his home.  [...]

A small group of anti-Israeli Jews chose the week before Passover to organise a boycott of Israeli wine at the Summerhill LCBO in midtown Toronto on Sunday. It failed miserably as hundreds of customers packed the store and bought out the entire stock of Israeli wines within 30 minutes. Carl, who lives in Jerusalem and [...]

In March 2006, John Rooney called Jules Bertiboni in response to a newspaper ad for an apartment to rent. Mr Rooney subsequently claimed that Mr Bertiboni called him a “tapette” (“fag”) on the phone. Rooney says he became depressed and withdrawn after the alleged incident and complained to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. Mr Bertiboni [...]

Tyrannosaurus rex lives. Cartoon by Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner.

Internet users in the Far East are making fun of a Chinese government campaign against online pornography and other allegedly subversive material, and China has responded by trying to stamp out the satire. Chinese netizens are reacting angrily to reported attempts by government censors to stamp out a humorous form of protest against a recent [...]

Dennis Prager’s latest column, “Brilliance Is Overrated”, is spot on: Most Americans upon hearing that someone has attended Harvard University assumes that this person is not only smarter than most other people but is actually a more impressive person. That is why, for example, people assume that a Nobel laureate in physics has something particularly [...]

Because, as we all know, women never spend more than they earn. That inane claim was made by a co-host of a morning TV talk show in Britain.

Egyptian author and Islamic philosophy scholar Youssef Ziedan has been awarded the second annual International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his historical novel Azazeel (“Beelzebub”, or “Lord of the Flies”). Set in 5th-century Egypt, the book focuses on violent conflicts and divisions among Christians over the nature of Jesus Christ and sympathises with those who [...]

Pro-life students are suing Spokane Falls Community College over conditions administration officials imposed on an anti-abortion display. In a transparent effort to shut down pro-life opinion, the students were ordered to publicise views contradicting their convictions. So much for freedom of conscience (never mind freedom of speech) at Spokane Falls. They wanted to post information [...]

Sixteen Prince Edward Islanders have joined the class action suit against Maple Leaf Foods, even though the provincial health department recorded no listeriosis cases. Tony Merchant, of Merchant Law Group in Saskatoon, is the lead lawyer for one of the class actions. He has 16 claims from P.E.I. amongst the 4,200 signed on to his [...]

You’ve got to admit that’s a novel defence against rape charges. THE alleged abduction and gang rape of a woman was dismissed as harmless fun by a female defence lawyer in a Bahrain trial yesterday. […] The men, aged 19, 20 and 21, are accused at the High Criminal Court of snatching a Filpina off [...]

Mark Mercer has alerted me to “an ugly article/interview” in the new issue of The Journal, student newspaper at Saint Mary’s University. Holly Taylor offers a breathless defence of the small group of anti-free speech hooligans who shouted down pro-life speaker Jojo Ruba last month. Ms Taylor’s “defence” is full of faulty assumptions, erroneous arguments, [...]

The president of Tajikistan presumes to give Muslim clerics pointers in good grooming.  Among his sartorial tips: Dress “appropriately”; wear a suit and tie; and, by all means, wash and trim those mangy beards. Speaking at a conference in Dushanbe on February 26 attended by religious leaders and scholars, President Emomali Rahmon said religious figures [...]

Just in time for Lent, France’s Department of Health has recommended that everyone stop drinking wine in order to reduce the risk of cancer. “The consumption of alcohol, and especially wine, is discouraged,” say guidelines that are drawn from the findings of the National Cancer Institute (INCA). A single glass of wine per day will [...]