Yo, Canada

Huh. Well, this is interesting - to me, at least.

UN rights body overrides Canada, Russia in approving native peoples declaration

GENEVA (AP) - The new UN Human Rights Council on Thursday overrode Canadian and Russian objections and passed a declaration to protect the rights of native peoples around the world, including an assertion that they have a possible right to restitution for land and resources taken from them.

By 30-2 vote, the body approved the declaration that said indigenous people should be free from discrimination and that they have a right "to consider themselves different and to be respected as such." A dozen countries abstained and three were absent.

A coalition of indigenous people who had been campaigning heavily in favour of passage had complained that Canada, a former supporter of the declaration, had switched sides after the Conservative party ousted the Liberals earlier this year.

They said Canada thus joined the United States, Australia and New Zealand - all countries with significant native populations - in opposing the declaration. The U.S., Australia and New Zealand, however, have no vote because they are not members of the 47-nation council, which began its first session last week.

The council replaced the widely discredited 53-country UN Human Rights Commission.

Link to the article

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In other, related news, we're going downtown tomorrow! Canada Day in Ottawa. Puts another twist on the phrase "over the top" ;)

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Still hunting down footnotes - 76 of them, in fact - like a madwoman. I have most of my sources, and spent a couple of hours thumb-wrestling with a microfilm machine today.

It's a good paper. Mostly. But... damn, I could explain my misgivings to y'all, but then I'd have to kill you. Confidentiality and all that.

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Jacob crawls. And says "Baw."

::sniffle:: They grow so fast!

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Has anybody ever used one of those mobile knife-sharpening trucks? Or are they specifically put in this world to break children's hearts when they drive through residential neighbourhoods sounding just like ice cream vendors?

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And to send off this entry with a smile the weekend before both sides of the border go partying, here's a cute thing I got a few years ago. You may have gotten it, with the same "this is an actual transcript released by the Navy" header I have below. It's not. It's a joke/urban legend that's been around somewhere between 30-40 years, but never actually happened, no matter who swears they got it from their uncle, Navy PFC Bob.

( Cross-border sailing )

I do not think it means what you think it means...

OK, I have not read the stories these are from, am not familiar with the fandoms, and have no idea if the fics are good, bad or ugly in their entirety. All I know is somebody on danglypartsiple thought each had a snippet worth a mention:

• Shishido thrust one wrist in front of Atobe’s face, causing Atobe’s eyes to widen and take a step back.
  
  
• The first time sleeping in the same bed as Sam had given him a hard-on, Dean should’ve nipped it in the bud.
  
  
• Kaidoh hissed and fixed his bandana, which had been completely deranged.
  
  
• Oishi smiled and kissed the angry face right between his eyes, up on his forehead.
  
  
• Sam threw a t-shirt across the room in a beleaguered form of protest.
  
  
• Then again, it wasn't a good idea to think I'll of the dead. (Chris informs me that the proper term for "I'll of the dead" is "Isla de Muerta")
  
  
• The chocolate hair, wearing glass and good manner were all in the new kid.
  
  
• Sam was so surprised that he forgot to close his eyes when Dean kissed him back, getting an eyeful of freckles.

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ETA: From linealyn, here's my world map. Looks more impressive than it is; my father was an airline pilot, so I travelled all over the place as a kid, but for many of these exotic locales, my strongest memories involve things like really comfy beds or nice chocolates or a restaurant where they served kiddie drinks with a cool little umbrella.



create your own visited countries map
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