So the pope has “failed to confirm” France’s choice of ambassador to the Vatican. Laurent Stefanini, who is openly gay, was nominated by the French government on January 5th. The reasonable assumption is that, since three months have passed since the ambassador’s nomination, he has been deemed unacceptable for the post. The Vatican has declined… Read more »
I’m not a big fan of Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheque). It has, quite reasonably, been called a “Temple of Pseudoscience“, for its consistent peddling of all kinds of woo. They sell you everything you need to get the bad stuff out (with their assortment of intestinal cleanses), and then tell you which superfoods you… Read more »
On March 6, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson, and my MP, Gordon O’Connor. Today, I received the following response: Thank you for your email of March 6, 2015, regarding the case of Mr. Raif Badawi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper… Read more »
I recently bought a bag of cat litter, and noticed that it was labelled “chemical-free”. So I guess it’s really made of magic fairy granules? (I would have said “magic fairy dust”, but it was labelled “dust-free” also.) Then there was the time I ran across some “chemical-free” sunscreen – the label proudly declared that… Read more »
Here’s a copy of a statement from the family of Raif Badawi, currently in prison in Saudi Arabia: We have received information from reliable sources that there are attempts within the Penal Court to retry Raif Badawi on apostasy charges again. Apostasy charge is punishable under Saudi law with the death penalty by beheading. We… Read more »