Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Dutch migration minister quits over ‘asylum seeker crimes’ ~ They can’t pretend “cultural enrichment” is working any more. And it looks like the struggle between the European ruling class vs. the peasants is escalating ~

A Dutch junior justice minister (Migration minister Mark Harbers) has quit after his department came under fire for appearing to minimize statistics about criminality among asylum seekers.
 
His departure adds to the struggle faced by centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte as he tries to counter a surge in anti-immigration populists who look poised to win big in the elections on Thursday.

 
Cardinal Sarah Endorses the “Notes” of Pope Benedict, “Martyr For the Truth” ~ I’m not even Catholic, but this guy is a solid rock of the faith. In Rome on May 14th, Sarah was supposed to speak about his new book, but instead chose to share some wisdom from Pope Benedict XVI ~

“The crisis of pedophilia in the Church, the scandalous and distressing multiplication of abuse has one and only one ultimate cause: the absence of God. Benedict XVI summarizes it in another formula that is also clear. I quote: ‘It is only where faith no longer determines the actions of man that such crimes are possible.’

 
“The theological genius of Joseph Ratzinger here touches not only upon his experience as pastor of souls and as bishop, as father of his priests, but also upon his personal, spiritual, and mystical experience. He goes back to the fundamental cause, he allows us to understand what the only way can be for getting out of the frightening and humiliating scandal of pedophilia. The crisis of sexual abuse is the symptom of a deeper crisis: the crisis of faith, the crisis of the sense of God.”

 
“It isn’t your grandpa’s weed,” former addict says ~ (video) As I’ve mentioned before, pot is at least twice as potent as it was in the 70’s ~

“This isn’t your grandpa’s weed,” Ben Cort says in a TedTalk from Colorado.
 
In 2012, Colorado legalized cannabis and kickstarted a multibillion dollar industry with every product imaginable — brownies, gummy bears, granola bars, even lube! But to say that we’ve “legalized cannabis” is mistaken — we’ve commercialized THC.

 
Media Scrambles To Discredit Abby Johnson’s Pro-Life Conversion, And Fails ~ “Unplanned” must be having a much stronger impact than the pro-aborts thought it would (and it is, if the pro-life legislation sweeping the country is any indication) because they’re futilely attacking Johnson’s credibility. Steven Katz, the movie’s executive producer debunks the criticisms ~

If her story is one elaborate ruse concocted by a disgruntled employee angry about a negative work review, rather than a legitimate pro-life conversion, then she has certainly gone to extreme lengths to maintain her cover. Ultimately, the public will have to decide which story makes the most sense, although it is worth noting that Planned Parenthood sought an injunction to silence Abby when she left in 2009. It was a case that Planned Parenthood promptly lost in court.

 
Journalists Charged With 15 Felonies For Undercover Videos Exposing Planned Parenthood Take Hit In Court ~ On another front in the pro-life war, Kamala Harris’s successor in California is still persecuting David Daleiden for exposing Planned Parenthood’s illegal sale of fetal body parts ~

“This decision to deny David Daleiden’s Petition for Review means that [California Attorney General] Xavier Becerra, as Planned Parenthood’s prosecutor-in-chief, will be able to continue his unconstitutional harassment of David, bringing charges against him that don’t pass the ‘red face test,'” said Breen.

No conflict of interest here folks ~

Becerra has publicly promised to “stand with Planned Parenthood,” and both he and his predecessor, now Senator Kamala Harris, have received thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the pro-abortion organization.

 
Obama Program to Help Struggling Homeowners Blows Millions on Parties, Cars, Booze, Luxury Travel ~ In D.C. the rot is rampant. These are the same crooks that scream bloody murder when we start talking about budget cuts ~

Public officials who operate the disastrous project, known as Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), have wasted millions of dollars on parties, fancy cars, gifts, extravagant dinners and receptions, gym memberships and luxury travel. Previous investigations have uncovered more than $11 million in wasteful spending at HHF for illegal things such as employee bonuses, lavish shindigs, expensive vehicles and superfluous data storage. The latest enraging figures are documented in a lengthy report to Congress that outlines how HHF continues fleecing American taxpayers.

 
Asia Bibi Survived Violent Islamic Mobs in Pakistan, Now a Muslim Man Wants to ‘Slay the Blasphemer’ in Canada ~ Reunited with her family after nearly ten years, seems Bibi isn’t even safe in Canada (thanks to the Religion-of-Peace) ~

According to the British Pakistani Christian Association, a Muslim man who claims to live in Canada, has released a video threatening to kill her for blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed.

 
‘The victim is still alive and breathing’: Expert exposes China’s ‘horrific’ organ harvesting program ~ Dear God. This is where anti-God communism – which thoroughly devalues human life – can ultimately take us ~

Steven Mosher (founder and president of the Population Research Institute) said that China — the world’s leader in organ transplants — has moved to a “more advanced” version of its decades-long practice of executing prisoners for their organs, and is now “paralyzing their victim” in order to extract their organs while they are still alive […]
 
“The victim is still alive and breathing but can’t move because the muscles are paralyzed, and they extract the organs while the individual is still living — the heart, the liver, the kidneys, anything you can imagine that has monetary value is being taken out.”

 
U.S. denies visas to over 200 socialist academics sent by Cuba’s Castro dictatorship ~ Encouraging news that will send the Left into a frenzy ~

The communist apparatchiks . . . I mean academics . . . are squealing like stuck picks upon learning they won’t be leaving their socialist paradise and traveling to the horrible imperial U.S. It is quite rich to watch them complain about the U.S. persecuting them when they serve the most repressive and suppressive totalitarian dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere.
 
The only Cubans more upset than the “academics” over the visa denials are the Cuban intelligence agents they report to. They were counting on them bringing back a wealth of intelligence and a list of potential new recruits in American academia for Castro intelligence.

 
The real world versus the university ~ A cautionary tale from Canada (but we’re not far behind). Findings from a report on Canadian higher education are a bit troubling

“More than one-third of the profs they interviewed identified fewer than 10 percent of their students as ‘fully engaged.’ Over 80 percent of professors said they had dumbed down their course work, and had reduced the frequency and difficulty of assignments.” […]
 
Education should have as its goal helping students gain knowledge on their own. Knowledge is justifiable true belief. The tricky bit is always finding the truth. Nowadays education is often about giving children high self-esteem. Maintaining that self-esteem means that students must have high marks. The marking system has become so debased that it has become meaningless.
 
We are in trouble in Canada. We are unproductive and are not an easy place to do business in. We can’t compete because we no longer know how to think.

 
How s-wheat it is… climate bedwetters get it wrong again ~ Three years ago the alarmists were claiming “Wheat, one of the world’s most important crops, is threatened by climate change.” But, oops. Now it seems “Global wheat production set to hit record 777Mt (million tonnes)” ~

As previously reported, slight warming and increased CO2 is helping corn production as well.

 
Do You Suffer From Pareidolia? Are You Seeing Funny Faces Everywhere? ~ Just for fun ~ Cute stuff ~