Here’s your Canadian Atheist Weekly Update for to .
![[A photo of an intact specimen of a small lizard, encased in an orb of amber.]](https://www.canadianatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cretaceous-lizard-encased-in-amber-200x120.jpg)
Intact 100 million year-old lizard specimen, encased in amber.
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A Calgary based anti-abortion group has been going to small towns across Canada, attempting to run graphic anti-abortion ads via their transit systems, threatening the small towns with expensive lawsuits and “free speech” arguments if they refuse to run the ads. One town, Grand Prarie, Alberta, didn’t back down, and won a court ruling upholding their right to refuse the graphic, nasty ads. Peterborough, Ontario, however, caved.
h/t Derek Gray
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[] Health Effects of Marijuana and Cannabis-Derived Products Presented in New Report
The most complete report on scientific evidence regarding the health impacts of cannabis has been published.
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[] Pakistan’s “disappeared” activists – What we know
The IHEU is closely tracking the case of five – possibly nine – secular and liberal activists that have gone missing in the last few weeks. While these activists have all been accused of
insulting religion
and blasphemy by religious extremists, there is significant evidence that this may be the handiwork of the Pakistani government, military, or some faction therein. -
[] David Thomson, Galen Weston Sr. Have As Much Wealth As Poorest 30 Per Cent Of Canadians
This data comes from an Oxfam International report that also concludes that 8 people have as much wealth as half the world. Note that the focus is on wealth inequality, not the usual income inequality.
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[] Amber-encased prehistoric creatures found in 2016
One of the coolest science stories of 2016 was the feathered dinosaur tail found in amber. Turns out that was only one of several cool amber-encased finds last year.
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[] Leonie the Queensland leopard shark is making history
I’m jazzed about the fact that it means good things for conservation efforts, but I admit a slight bit of trepidation at learning that one of the ocean’s most effective killing machines can virgin-Mary little predators into being.
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[] Disruption over Muslim prayer raises question about vetting delegates
Reader Derek Gray, following up on the story about the chaos at a Peel District School Board meeting, has discovered the deceptive lengths that the two islamophobic speakers went to in order to get to the microphone. Eric Brazau – the guy who wore a Muslim prayer cap and opened with an Arabic greeting – has past convictions for hate speech against Muslims. And Mr. “Islam is poison”, who identified himself as Ron Banerj, was actually Ron Banerjee, director of Canadian Hindu Advocacy, which has a long history of targeting Muslims (and Sikhs as well). Turns out there was no need for their deceptions; PDSB wasn’t doing any checks on the delegates who signed up anyway (and says they still won’t, figuring that if someone starts going off-tangent, they can stop him… wonderfully liberal logic; one wonders why they can’t apply it to their students, too).
h/t Derek Gray
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[] Kevin O’Leary Confirms He’s Running For Conservative Leader
Sigh.
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