Source: Reuters
“Some Canadian provinces have logged a jump in unclaimed dead bodies in recent years, with next of kin citing funeral costs as a growing reason for not collecting loved ones’ remains. The phenomenon has prompted at least one province to build a new storage facility. Demand for memorial fundraisers has surged. The overall cost of a funeral in Canada at the top end has increased to about $8,800 from about $6,000 in 1998, according to industry trade group estimates.” (05/18/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-bodies-go-unclaimed-costs-put-funerals-out-reach-2024-05-18/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald
Like so many of the microschool founders I visit across the U.S. and interview on my semiweekly LiberatED podcast, [Christa] Hayes never expected to run a school. She had been a mathematics professor at Montana State University for more than a decade, fully intending to stay in that role until retirement. … When her children’s schools shut down in the spring of 2020, and her college classes went online, Hayes began hearing from parents who wanted tutoring services. She also wanted to help her own three children stay on track academically, and find a way for them to have small, safe social interactions.” (05/17/24)
https://fee.org/articles/montanas-microchool-founders-are-offering-families-creative-learner-centered-education-options/
Source: United Press International
“Boeing’s first crewed space mission was delayed again Friday due to a persistent helium leak. The spacecraft now is scheduled to take off May 25 after NASA scrapped a launch set for Tuesday. The delay will give time for the team to further assess a small helium leak in the spacecraft’s service module, the agency said.” (05/18/24)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/05/18/boeing-starliner-delay-nasa/8071716054297/
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Thomas Sowell vs. Conventional Wisdom.” (05/18/24)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2493-thomas-sowell-vs-conventional-wisdom/
Source: Cato Institute
by Jeffrey A Singer
“We abandoned Prohibition 90 years ago and respect adults’ right to use their own judgment about the risks and benefits and safest ways to consume alcohol. It is time we treated adult marijuana use the same way.” (05/17/24)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/letter-editor-are-risks-marijuana-overhyped-or-undersold
Source: SFGate
“A group of pro-Palestinian protesters claimed they released 500 cockroaches, smashed windows and sprayed red paint at the University of California Office of the President in downtown Oakland on Sunday. A post on Indybay, authored by ‘sacred black and red,’ identified the writers as the people that vandalized the building ‘in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance.’ Referring to the group as ‘anti-colonial anarchists and communists,’ the post said they used a ‘fire extinguisher filled with red paint’ to cover the building’s facade and break windows, and used a second fire extinguisher inside. The Oakland Police Department told SFGATE a group of people used an object to break the windows before ‘throwing paint on the walls’ and fleeing the area on foot.” (05/16/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pro-palestinian-group-said-released-cockroaches-19462868.php
Source: spiked
by Patrick West
“A lot of fuss has been made about trigger warnings in recent years – and for good reason. They are censorious and infantile, reflecting an era in which people are keen to cast imperious judgement on anything slightly objectionable – especially if the book, film or play in question is from the past, a place where everybody was supposedly nasty and stupid. They also reflect an emergent generation that is hypersensitive and quick to burst into tears.” (05/17/24)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/05/17/the-truth-about-trigger-warnings/
Source: Fox News Forum
by Jonathan Turley
“In the movie ‘Quiz Show,’ about the rigging of a 1950s television game show, the character Mark Van Doren warns his corrupted son that ‘if you look around the table and you can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.’ As the trial of former President Donald Trump careens toward its conclusion, one has to wonder if the jurors are wondering the same question. For any discerning juror, the trial has been conspicuously lacking any clear statement from the prosecutors of what crime Trump was attempting to commit by allegedly mischaracterizing payments as ‘legal expenses.’ Even liberal legal experts have continued to express doubt over what crime is being alleged as the government rests its case.” (05/17/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-trial-truths-3-reasons-jury-might-acquit-president-being-played-chumps
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The DR Congo military on Sunday thwarted an attempted coup near the offices of President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa involving ‘foreigners and Congolese,’ the army spokesperson said. The coup bid took place in the early hours outside the residence of economy minister Vital Kamerhe, in the Gombe area in the north of the capital, near president’s offices at the Palais de la Nation. … Shots were also heard near the Palais de la Nation at the time of the coup attempt, according to a number of sources.” (05/19/24)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240519-dr-congo-army-says-it-has-thwarted-attempted-coup-in-kinshasa
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Israel to Intensify Military Operations in Rafah.” (05/17/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-595-israel-to-intensify-military-operations-in-rafah
