Category Archives: good news
British High Court Grants Julian Assange Permission to Appeal Extradition to the US
The British High Court has granted Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s request to be able to appeal his extradition to the United States.
Assange faces charges in the US under the Espionage Act for his publication of the Iraq and Afghan War Logs. If convicted he could face a maximum sentence of 175 years for the “crime” of publishing material that the US government did not want the population to know.
On Monday, the court ruled that Assange’s request to certify a point of law was legitimate.
“The point of law certified is: In what circumstances can an appellate court receive assurances from a requesting state which were not before the court of first instance in extradition proceedings,” court documents read.
Worldwide Rally for Freedom, earlier today on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada
My wife and I attended the Worldwide Rally for Freedom, held today on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
MPP Randy Hillier opened with the Lord’s Prayer. (*Update: someone did; I thought they said it was him, but I couldn’t see the speakers; perhaps it was pre-recorded and was indeed him, because I later learned he attended the Worldwide Rally for Freedom in Toronto, so not sure he could have made both.)
We stayed for an hour, listened to various speakers; some were inspiring, others a bit less so; one individual came off a bit unhinged.
But the crowd was enthusiastic, cheerful, and optimistic, and had great signs and banners.
And hundreds turned out, despite the -20°C weather. (Hey, we’re Canadian; we’re tough. 😉 )
And we were delighted to bump into others from our own church; no idea they’d be there! 🙂
A selection of scenes from the rally:
ElectricAngel’s chocolate challenge
Those who read the comments thread at this post a few weeks ago will remember that ElectricAngel challenged my taste in milk chocolate, and dared me to try some high-cocoa-butter varieties of it, arguing that that, rather than the butterfat content, determines the quality of milk chocolate, and he challenged me to try some he would mail me, and see if I would convert to his perspective.
To that end, he posted two chocolate bars from a French chocolatier, Michel Cluizel; one was the Michel Cluizel Riachuelo Brazil 51% Milk Chocolate Bar; the other was the Michel Cluizel 45% Milk Chocolate Bar with Salted Butter Caramel.
Now, I already have long been a fan, in dark chocolate terms, of the high-cocoa-level dark chocolate bars or truffles, etc.; I have enjoyed some of the 70-90% cocoa dark chocolate I have been introduced to.
I was delighted to find, in both of these 40-50% cocoa-butter bars, a similar taste, except also accompanied by with the creaminess one expects from milk chocolate.
They were both excellent.
But my word; that salted butter caramel bar was the best chocolate bar I’ve ever eaten!
The other one was certainly one of the best quality and tastiest milk chocolate bars I’ve ever had, too.
Gotta admit.
So…
… am I now a convert to EA’s POV re: milk chocolate?
Well, definitely partially; I feel I have discovered a new world of possibilities within milk chocolate, a world I thought I had known fairly well before, but I can now see I only knew in part. It reminds me of when I started to discover the world of beer beyond the British Isles varieties and pilsener, and started to encounter Helles lagers and Polish porters, and beyond; beer had so much more variety than I had realized…
Does this mean I will entirely leave behind my world of cheaper, high-butterfat rather than high cocoa-butter chocolate bars?
I don’t think so, in the same way that I like both pizza from wood-fired ovens in fancy Italian restaurants, and cheap $3 slices of fast-food pizza; or both high end burgers and cheap sliders.
And for that matter, speaking of beer above, I can still appreciate some drinkable lawnmower beers, even as I generally prefer craft beers and good imports.
Guess my tastes have always tended to be broad spectrums, within which I can enjoy both ends and in between, depending.
But my milk chocolate horizons have definitely expanded, same as my dark chocolate ones did a few years back when I discovered the high-cocoa varieties of that.
Thanks EA! 🙂
Et vive la France! 🙂
Dutch PM exposed lying about Klaus Schwab’s ‘The Great Reset’
Russia ups ante in dispute with West over Ukraine, not ruling out deployment to Cuba, Venezuela
Russia raised the stakes Thursday in its dispute with the West over Ukraine when a top diplomat refused to rule out a military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela if tensions with the United States escalate.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said he could “neither confirm nor exclude” the possibility of Russia sending military assets to Latin America if the U.S. and its allies don’t curtail their military activities on Russia’s doorstep.
“It all depends on the action by our U.S. counterparts,” the minister said in an interview with Russian television network RTVI.
Hey, Imperium: the Monroe Doctrine is dead; you can’t enforce it, fading power!
Patriactionary 