Derek Chauvin, Scapegoat
The ritual the convicted Minneapolis police officer was subjected to was less a legal trial than a sort of pagan sacrifice.
Chez Kimball, we are spending part of most evenings reading The Iliad aloud. I wish I could say that we are doing it in the original Greek, but no—we are reading Richmond Lattimore’s translation, which was published in 1951. Other translations are more popular than Lattimore’s, but I think it is the best English translation because it manages to preserve something of the primitive current of Homer’s verse.
In Honor Of Canada Day, Canadian Music!
This was “Reader”‘s idea and contribution, and we’ll be running a post each evening through Canada Day. Please join us in thanking him and enjoy the music! Some videos may be blocked in other countries.
(more…)Conrad Black: Celebrate Canada, but not its political leaders or its propensity for self-flagellation
In my expression of gratitude to COVID vaccinators last week, I did not mention that the federal government took an unconscionable risk in gambling on the effect of a 10-week gap between vaccinations, nor the disgraceful record Canada has in getting the population fully vaccinated, nor the intolerable delay in reopening the country. It is disappointing to see how quiescently Canadians have endured all this official ineptitude.
Human–Monkey Hybrids: Have We Crossed a Boundary?
Scientists’ progress toward creating chimeras raises major ethical questions.
Afew weeks ago, scientists reported successfully growing human cells in monkey embryos, paving the way for creating live human–monkey chimeras. For many, this could open the door to great medical advancements such as in organ transplantation. For others, it may be a sign that science has overstepped a moral and ethical boundary.
A chimera, in the ancient mythological sense, was a hybrid creature made up of a lion, a goat, and a snake and was the product of the mating of the giant serpent Typhon and his lover Echidna. In the modern biological sense, however, a chimera is a cluster of cells or a whole organism that contains distinct cell types from two or more different organisms.
Disappearances Rise on Mexico’s ‘Highway of Death’
MEXICO CITY—As many as 50 people are missing after setting out on three-hour car trips this year between Mexico’s industrial hub of Monterrey and the border city of Nuevo Laredo on a well-traveled stretch of road local media have dubbed “the highway of death.”
Relatives say family members simply vanished. The disappearances, and last week’s shooting of 15 apparently innocent bystanders in Reynosa, suggest Mexico is returning to the dark days of the 2006-2012 drug war when cartel gunmen often targeted the general public as well as one another.
Iran: Black Turban Follows White Turban
Now what? This is the question Iranians ask these days as they try to absorb the shock of the latest elections which has propelled another turban into the presidency of the Islamic Republic.
Leaving aside the first two whose ephemeral career was too short to merit attention, the Islamic Republic has had five presidents.
GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau’s prohibitively expensive climate plan comes with imaginary climate targets
With Canadian governments never having hit a single greenhouse gas reduction target they’ve set since 1988, a new report by Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux explains why the Trudeau government won’t hit its latest target for 2030.
Technically, Giroux’s report — Beyond Paris: Reducing Canada’s GHG emissions by 2030 — outlines the “prohibitive costs” Canadians will have to pay and the “extraordinary measures” required by government and the private sector.
Catherine McKenna retiring from politics, creates opening for Mark Carney
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna has decided not to run for re-election.
Her decision opens up some prime political real estate — Ottawa Centre — which could become a launching pad for former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney should he decide to run for the Liberals in the next election.
CRTC chairman under fire over one-on-one meetings with big telecom lobbyists
Meetings that Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission chairman Ian Scott had with lobbyists from big telecom companies – including a one-on-one at an Ottawa pub with the now-CEO of Bell – are further reasons to overturn a recent CRTC decision and fire Scott, a small internet provider told the Liberal government.
We are a Banana Republic
Allison Mack Tells Court “I Am So Sorry”; ‘Smallville’ Alum Seeks No Jail Time For Role In NXIVM Cult
Mere days after federal prosecutors recommended that Allison Mack receive leniency for her involvement with the NXIVM cult, the former Smallville actress and her attorneys have directly requested no time behind bars.
“It is now of paramount importance for me to say, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry,” said a letter from Mack herself, accompanying sentencing guideline recommendations from her attorneys.
In other Celebrity Deviant News – Ghislaine Maxwell began to share ‘little black book’ with Epstein as early as the 1980s
Ocasio-Cortez Doubles Down On Defunding The Police, Claims Concerns Over Crime Wave Are ‘Hysteria’
Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) doubled down on her support for defunding the police during a video event this week, and claimed that concern over exploding crime rates across the U.S. are “hysteria.”
Perfect timing AOC! – 27 Shot Friday into Saturday Night in Mayor Lightfoot‘s Chicago
‘Free to Learn’ Coalition Exposes the Politicization of K-12 Schools in Brutal Ad Campaign
Free to Learn is a new non-profit that is taking a non-partisan approach to highlighting the damage politicized content like critical theories are doing to our children and the quality of the education they receive. The group’s mission is to support parents, caregivers, and grassroots community organizations fighting to rid their schools of political content and to refocus on core skills.
Fauci ‘lied’ to Congress by saying he didn’t know why Trump canceled a $370k grant for the Wuhan Institute of Virology
Dr Anthony Fauci was accused of lying Sunday after claims he falsely denied knowing the reasons behind President Trumps’s decision to cut funding to the Chinese lab accused of releasing COVID-19.
The White House’s chief medical advisor initially resisted Trump’s order to halt taxpayer funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology in April 2020, according to an upcoming book, before telling a house committee in June that he ‘didn’t know the reason’ behind the then-president’s decision.