statism

Calgary student, 13, reprimanded for defending his classmate against a knife-wielding bully

"He didn’t see the knife, but 'I heard the flick, and I heard them say there was a knife.' The rest was just instinct. Briar stepped up to defend his classmate, pushing the knife-wielding bully away. It wasn’t until fourth period everything went haywire. 'I got called to the office and I wasn’t able to leave until the end of the day,' he said. That’s when Leah O’Donnell, Briar’s mother, received a call from the vice-principal. Instead of getting a pat on the back for his bravery, Briar was made to feel as if he had done something terribly wrong. The police were called, the teen filed a statement and his locker was searched." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalgary student, 13, reprimanded for defending his classmate against a knife-wielding bully

Rural Chinese children ‘left behind’ as parents join mass migration to the cities

"For more than 20 years China’s government has encouraged the rural poor to move to cities as a way to boost growth and lift living standards. The country now has 263 million migrant workers, and new leaders who took office this year have renewed the drive to urbanise. But while city wages are higher, so are their costs of living, exacerbated by a 'hukou' residency system that bars Chinese from receiving benefits such as healthcare and schooling outside their registered hometown. Nearly half of left-behind children live with neither of their parents. Almost 70 percent of those stay with grandparents. A quarter have other guardians, and seven percent survive on their own." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRural Chinese children ‘left behind’ as parents join mass migration to the cities

Young Catholics flood Rio’s streets after Pope Francis speech

"Heeding Pope Francis’ call to shake up the Church, hundreds of thousands of young Catholics marched across Rio on Saturday, singing, beating drums and chanting 'this is the pope’s youth!' They waved flags from around the world — Brazil, Australia, South Africa, the United States — and pitched tents on the crescent-shaped beach of Copacabana for an all-night vigil and final mass with the pope to cap World Youth Day festivities. Since his election in March, history’s first Latin American pope has sought to re-energize Catholics, using his Rio trip to urge young believers to spread the Gospel and 'make a mess' in their dioceses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYoung Catholics flood Rio’s streets after Pope Francis speech

Pope Francis condemns ‘culture of individualism’ for economic inequality

"On Thursday, the pontiff unleashed the most powerful and politically loaded rhetoric of his trip, attacking the 'culture of selfishness and individualism' and urging more efforts to fight hunger and poverty. The throngs were largely kept at bay by security barriers, but the pope kissed babies and shook hands with well-wishers. Police helicopters buzzed overheads, and police snipers watched the crowd from rooftops. He also gave a sharply worded condemnation of moves to legalise drug use during a visit on Wednesday to a rehabilitation centre in Brazil." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPope Francis condemns ‘culture of individualism’ for economic inequality

Why Buffett Bailed on India

"Buffett isn’t alone in voting with his feet. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ArcelorMittal (MT) SA and Posco are pulling back on investments in India that they had announced with great fanfare. What’s scaring foreigners away? A rampant political dysfunction that has stopped India’s progress cold. Headwinds from New Delhi are contributing to the slowest growth rates in a decade, a record current-account deficit and a 7.9 percent plunge in the rupee this year. Fiscal neglect has bond traders demanding higher yields for government debt than India wants to pay. Foreign-direct investment slid about 21 percent last fiscal year, and this one doesn’t look promising." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Buffett Bailed on India

Walmart tells India it can’t buy enough local products for new supermarket

"Walmart has told India that it is unable to meet local sourcing requirements for foreign supermarket groups wanting to open stores in the country, a report said Wednesday. Under rules introduced when the government opened up the sector in 2012, foreign supermarkets are required to buy 30 percent of their products from local small-scale industries. India’s left-leaning government has opened up or proposed opening the banking and insurance, airline, energy and media sectors to foreign investors but has imposed conditions in each case." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWalmart tells India it can’t buy enough local products for new supermarket

India seizure of smuggled gold zooms 365% in Q1

"After a two-decade lull, gold smugglers seem to be back in business in India, thanks to recent hikes in import duty on gold — from about one per cent to eight per cent in 18 months. In the April-June quarter of this financial year, seizure of smuggled gold hit Rs 59.82 crore — an increase of 365 per cent over Rs 12.86 crore in the same period a year ago. In volume terms, the increase would be even higher, because the average gold price in the quarter came down 6.6 per cent from that in the same quarter last year. According to rough estimates, only 5-10 per cent of smuggled gold is caught by authorities, while the rest manages to get into the country unnoticed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia seizure of smuggled gold zooms 365% in Q1

Obama, Republicans gear up for bruising U.S. budget fight

"Another dramatic showdown between Republicans and the White House over federal spending looks inevitable this fall, with scary talk of government shutdowns and default on government debt. While Capitol Hill analysts are not predicting catastrophe, they have several reasons to worry that the conflict just weeks away could be even worse than usual. Obama and Congress face two fiscal deadlines in quick succession. They must agree by October 1 on a stop-gap measure to keep the government funded or face a shutdown. And in early November, Congress must raise the legal limit on the country's borrowing authority or risk an unprecedented default." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama, Republicans gear up for bruising U.S. budget fight

A New Batch of One-Liners Provides more Evidence of Jay Leno’s Inner Libertarianism

"I’ve already speculated that Jay Leno is a closet libertarian. If nothing else, the latest batch of jokes, courtesy of News-max, shows that he’s willing to go after Obama. Which is more than can be said for some of his competitors. As you can imagine, the joke about Obamacare and the deficit resonated with me. And the joke about taxing marijuana reminds me of what I wrote about the downside to legalization." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA New Batch of One-Liners Provides more Evidence of Jay Leno’s Inner Libertarianism

UK Porn Filter: Censorship Extends Beyond Pornography, But One ISP Is Fighting Back

"One U.K. ISP, TalkTalk, already has 'The HomeSafe System,' which was singled out for praise by David Cameron when announcing the new policy. It gives another good idea of the kind of Internet censorship the British government is looking to implement. HomeSafe is actually operated by Huawei, a Chinese company that both the U.K. and the U.S. accused of having close ties with the Chinese government. The U.S. has branded Huawei a threat to national security. ISPs will be able to use whatever filter system they like, so many may not choose to be associated with Huawei. Others are refusing to take place in the filters at all." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK Porn Filter: Censorship Extends Beyond Pornography, But One ISP Is Fighting Back