Random links
- Grounds Zero: A Starbucks-Free Italy
- Never thought I'd see McDonalds classified as in the "slow food" category - but it may just be the case for the Italian version of the chain: "one in five first-time McCafé visitors had never entered a McDonald’s before. Unlike in an Italian bar, where the tradition is to slam your shot of espresso and leave, McDonald’s encourages its clients to linger. Italians may be picky about their coffee, but they’re wide open for a company that offers them a new, slower way to experience it."
- Will the Pope Absolve Fidel Castro?
- "Two of Italy’s top newspapers are reporting that Fidel Castro will avail himself of the visit to confess his sins and be accepted back into the Catholic Church, which excommunicated him in 1962. 'During this last period, Fidel has come closer to religion,' says Castro’s estranged daughter Alina who lives in Miami. 'He has rediscovered Jesus at the end of his life.'" - an interesting turn of events if true.
- Lies, damned lies and 98 percent of Catholic women
- Don't agree with the Roman Catholic Church's position on contraception, but that still doesn't seem to justify the abuse of statistics. To quote the article: "So I guess we could say that among women aged 15-44 who had sex in the last three months but aren’t pregnant, post-partum or trying to get pregnant, 87 percent of women who identify as Catholic used contraception. It’s worth pondering just who is left out of this 87 percent, other than, you know, everyone who doesn’t use contraception. Great stat, team journalist! I mean, the study was designed to find only women who would be most likely to use contraception. And it did."
- Changes to immigration system will help Canada bring in tradespeople: Kenney
- Said the Citizenship and Immigration Minister: "People who are skilled tradespeople have an almost impossible job of coming to Canada under our current system because the skilled worker program basically selects people with advanced university degrees"