"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Northwoods is a ministry dedicated to refreshing Christians and challenging them to search for the truth in Christianity, politics, sociology, and science
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Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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Alberta Says It’s Committed to Free Speech After Edmonton Police Releases Controversial Hate Speech Video
Alberta Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety Mike Ellis answers media questions as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith looks on at an availability in Calgary on Aug. 25, 2023. The Canadian Press/Dave Chidley
Alberta’s Deputy Premier and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis says the province is committed to upholding freedom of speech after the Edmonton Police Service released a controversial video encouraging the public to report online hate.
The video was posted on social media on Aug. 2 but was removed from the police force’s X account later that day after drawing criticism from free speech advocates and some MPs, who argued that some or all of the examples shown did not meet the legal threshold for criminal hate speech.
However, the video remains available on the police force’s Facebook and Instagram accounts as of publication time.
“We are committed to supporting and respecting everyone’s right to free speech. We have duty to uphold these rights and freedoms, regardless of an individual’s religious or political beliefs,” Ellis said in a social media statement on Aug. 4, without directly mentioning the Edmonton police video.
“Alberta’s government does not condone hate speech or violence, but we believe law enforcement should be focused on stopping violent crime, not policing opinions or ‘hurt feelings.’”
Ellis, whose public safety department oversees security agencies, said the province will be in touch with provincial and municipal police agencies to ensure that “Albertans’ policing priorities continue to be cracking down on violent crime, theft, illegal drugs and vandalism.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also said that the province will ensure police forces remain focused on violent and other crimes, not “people’s free speech.”
“Free Speech is a foundational Alberta value. We don’t believe in policing unpopular or religious-based statements even if they are controversial. That’s a slippery slope other countries have fallen into and we can’t go down that road,” Smith said.
The Epoch Times contacted the Edmonton police for comment but did not hear back.
Video
Edmonton police’s now-deleted Aug. 2 X post said: “Online hate isn’t ‘just a comment.’ It hurts real people and harms real communities. Hate has no home here.” It went on to say “If you see hate, report hate” and offered a dedicated link for people to do so online.
The backlash centred on video examples offered by police—such as comments regarding deportation and telling some immigrants to “go back home.”
Free speech advocates argued the police service failed to distinguish between constitutionally protected political expression that some may find offensive and criminal hate speech. They argued the campaign appeared to target hurt feelings and controversial opinions rather than conduct amounting to a criminal offence.
Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) interim litigation director Josh Dehaas described the police force’s post as “very disturbing to me as a free speech lawyer.”
“Nothing referenced below comes anywhere close to being illegal speech and you have no business reporting it to police,” he said in an Aug. 1 X post. “More importantly, police have no business taking reports on it.”
Two Tory MPs weighed in on the Edmonton Police Service’s online hate speech campaign, which also includes advertising on city buses that encourage the public to call the police with online hate speech tips.
Ontario MP and lawyer Roman Baber posted a screen shot of the police video along with his thoughts on the campaign.
“No Edmonton police, you have no jurisdiction to limit online speech unless a criminal law is broken,” he wrote on X. “The criminal offence of ‘Hate Speech’ is limited to the definition articulated by the Supreme Court almost 40 years ago. Not what others find offensive!”
Fellow Conservative MP Andrew Lawton expressed similar criticism.
“Some of these posts call for violence and could meet criminal threshold, but I struggle to see how most of these sample hate posts would be illegal (which is different from offensive, hurtful, uncivil, etc.),” Lawton wrote. “This is precisely the chilling effect I warned about with Bill C-9.”
As if the Edmonton Police don't have enough to do. This appears to be a witch-hunting tactic, or some far left cop's project.
Combatting Hate Act
Bill C-9, known as the Combatting Hate Act, came into force on July 18, amending the Criminal Code to strengthen protections against hate-motivated crimes.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the new legislation was required to handle a rising wave of hate crimes, citing police data indicating Jewish, Muslim, and other communities were increasingly being targeted.
“We’ve seen synagogues struck by gunfire, places of worship vandalized or burned, and people being targeted in their own communities. That is unacceptable,” he said in a June press release. “We cannot allow that kind of hate to become normal in Canada. These changes will help people worship and gather safely in their own communities, while supporting law enforcement with clearer tools to respond.”
Critics, however, have characterized the law as overly broad and a threat to constitutional freedoms.
Rights groups such as the CCF argued Bill C-9 would expand state control over speech and could suppress unpopular but legally protected expression.
The Conservative Party had also voiced concern about the legislation. Baber was one of the MPs to lead opposition to the bill, and commented extensively on the legislation during its parliamentary debate.
He repeatedly criticized Bill C-9, saying it could be used by the government to restrict free speech and criminalize everyday expression, rather than effectively stopping violence.
Premier Smith has also expressed opposition to the legislation, calling it “terrifying and chilling” during a speech in March.
Smith said Alberta would not enforce laws targeting lawful speech and suggested provincial authorities would not be allowed to use policing resources to monitor or prosecute Albertans under the federal Combatting Hate Act.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday warned Japan over its expanding military capabilities. in this March 2019 photo, Kim is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam. File Pool Photo by Jorge Silva/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) --Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Wednesday that Pyongyang could adopt "additional military options" against Japan, accusing Tokyo of becoming a "war state" through its expanding military capabilities.
Kim made the remarks in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state," she wrote, claiming that Tokyo was exploiting growing geopolitical tensions to boost its offensive military capacity.
She cited Japan's recent test-firing of U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles from a destroyer in the Pacific Ocean and its March deployment of long-range surface-to-ship missiles and high-speed gliding projectiles at bases in Kumamoto and Shizuoka prefectures as examples of Tokyo's changing military posture.
Kim also pointed to Japan's participation in U.S.-led military exercises in the Philippines in May, where it launched offensive missiles outside its territory for the first time since World War II.
Kim claimed that Japan's growing arsenal of long-range weapons was transforming its Self-Defense Forces into an offensive military.
"The mass possession of different kinds of long-range strike means with an unexpectedness of preemptive attack and a drastic increase in the radius of their operation ... make Japan reorganize its overall armed forces as a formation of preemptive attack and overseas aggression," she wrote.
Kim also accused the United States of driving Japan's military expansion, saying Tokyo and Seoul were acting as Washington's "shock brigade" in the region.
"Japan's military expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, which is being turned into the world's biggest hotspot due to the U.S. exclusive and aggressive foreign policy ... seriously threatens international peace and stability," she wrote.
North Korea has repeatedly criticized the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish conservative who took office in February, over efforts to strengthen Japan's military and broaden its regional security role.
Tokyo has bolstered its defense posture since adopting a new National Security Strategy in late 2022 that calls for acquiring "counterstrike capabilities," including long-range missiles intended to strike enemy launch sites if Japan comes under attack.
In a commentary published in KCNA on Tuesday, North Korea condemned a recent U.S.-led multinational naval exercise in Hawaii and criticized military cooperation among Washington and its regional allies, including the Pentagon's recent move to upgrade U.S. Forces Japan into a joint force headquarters with expanded operational responsibilities.
Kim said North Korea should make Japan "regret" its growing military ambitions.
"One effective way is to make Japan feel that its security has been exposed to greater danger due to its greediness," she wrote. "We will never remain a passive onlooker to the military evolution of Japan which may pose a grave threat to the security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
"I make it clear upon authorization that the armed forces of the DPRK and the military leadership will set up additional military options which are obviously due to Japan's transformation," she added.
All around the world, countries are letting in Muslim migrants without any hesitation, because it would be “racist” and “Islamophobic” even to entertain the possibility that some of them might be Islamic jihadists, or might become Islamic jihadists. And yet everywhere in the world where there are Muslims, there are Islamic jihadists. Yet no nation seems to be willing to do what is necessary to protect its own citizens, and all of them are determined to put the well-being of the Muslim migrants first. It is a shame that if immigration laws were tightened, some innocent people would be inconvenienced. But isn’t it also a shame that incidents of this kind keep happening?
“When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks” (Qur’an 47:4)
Two injured in knife attack at Hong Kong luxury housing estate
HONG KONG: Two injured people were hospitalised after a man was arrested on suspicion of a random knife attack at a luxury residential estate in Hong Kong’s Southern District on Monday (Aug 10).
According to local media, the knife-wielding suspect – said to be a 22-year-old resident at the Baguio Villa – wore only sweatpants while leaving his unit at block 47 around 9am.
Outside block 43, the man, bare-chested and barefoot, charged at a male passerby, who narrowly dodged the attack.
The suspect then turned on a security guard and fought until fellow security staff rushed over.
Fleeing the clash, the man stabbed a passing foreign domestic helper in the back. Security guards and passersby intervened to restrain the man before police officers arrived and arrested him….
In France and Spain, wildfires have already spread across huge areas of both countries, causing billions of dollars of damage and requiring the evacuation of 350,000 people as of July 29, and the fires show no signs of being contained. French authorities have now revealed that they believe humans caused ninety per cent of those “wildfires.” More on this conclusion can be found here:
Wildfires: What penalties do intentional arsonists face?
translated from “Incendies : que risquent ceux qui les allument volontairement ?,” by Madeleine Meteyer, Le Figaro, July 14, 2026:
ANALYSIS – Since July 6, 184 people have been detained for starting fires—whether intentionally or accidentally—since the beginning of the year. The legal framework addressing these acts was strengthened in 2004.
Massive fires are currently raging; over 115,000 hectares of forest have been scorched in the last six months, homes have been destroyed, and firefighters are exhausted. Behind much of this destruction lie actual individuals responsible for the acts—a portion of whom (30%, according to the French Forest Observatory) acted out of malice. According to the Ministry of the Interior, nine out of ten fires are caused by human activity. On Tuesday, July 28, Laurent Nunez announced that 184 people had been detained for such acts since the start of the summer. These suspected arsonists represent a mix of criminals and individuals acting out of negligence.
What penalties do they face? The legal framework has been strengthened since 2004. On March 9 of that year, a law was passed in the wake of the summer 2003 heatwave—which saw over 2,000 fire outbreaks, 60,000 hectares of forest destroyed, and ten fatalities—increasing the penalties by placing greater emphasis on the danger posed to people and the environment. Our Penal Code distinguishes between fires caused by…
Summer heat has helped to dry out vegetation that is then more susceptible to being ravaged by wildfire, but humans start the fires themselves, or 90% of them.
In the past, wildfires in Greece and in Spain’s Canary Islands have both been attributed to arson. And now French authorities insist that 90% of the wildfires in France have been set by humans. The question is: who are the people setting these fires?
We have a clue in Israel, where for years both Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, and Israeli Arabs have been successfully prosecuted for starting fires, as the Israeli courts have concluded, “for nationalistic reasons” — meaning a desire of the Muslim arsonists to damage the Jewish state.
Here, for example, is what the Israelis discovered during the wave of “wildfires” that swept the country in 2016:
Two Israeli Arabs arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting brush fires have confessed to the crimes, police reportedly told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The suspects were said to from the Israeli Arab towns of Umm al-Fahm and Deir Hanna in northern Israel, the Hebrew-language Ynet news website reported. The report did not specify which fires the two admitted to igniting or offer details on the suspects….
At least 35 people have been arrested since Thursday on suspicion of setting fires or inciting others to do so. More than 15 were Palestinians arrested by the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service, an army spokesperson said. At least 10 of those held are Israeli Arabs, according to Hebrew media reports. Police did not offer a detailed breakdown of how many were being detained for incitement and how many for arson.
Police chief Roni Alsheich said Sunday that there had been similar arson attacks in the past and that they should be considered acts of terror, Army Radio reported.
“If setting the fire was deliberate it is definitely terror,” Alsheich said during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Halamish, where a fire destroyed 18 homes on Friday night. “By the way, that is nothing new, there have been arson incidents in the past. The concentration of a relatively large number of days, and the number of incidents and the weather conditions, brought about these results but there is nothing new and there were incidents like this in the past.”
In addition, both Al Qaeda and ISIS have for many years urged Muslims to engage in what they call “forest jihad,” and have periodically published online statements or graphics encouraging lone actors to start forest fires in Western countries. More on this incitement can be found here.
At Reddit, Muslims have been commenting on the wildfires in France. Here are two such comments;
May Allah ï·» burn the country of those who adamantly mock the rasool ï·º and oppress the Muslimeen. Then may they be resurrected and burnt in the next life as well.
As a Muslim I am glad to be considered a psycho by weirdos like yourself OP. They’re a kaffir country [France] that oppresses Muslims and openly mocks our religion. May they burn in this dunya and the akhirah, though I hope the innocents caught in between be spared. Ameen.
Will the French and Spanish governments make known this history of Muslims starting fires in Israel? Will they make public any evidence they may have of wildfires being started in their countries by Muslims determined to harm Infidels? I think if far more likely that they will conceal such evidence, so as not to contribute to “Islamophobia” and to calls for a halt to Muslim migration.
Locals Line up To Show Support at Toronto Bagel Shops Hit With Gunfire, Vandalism
by Shira Li Bartov, JTA, July 29, 2026:
Two locations of Kiva’s Bagel Bar, a fixture for Toronto Jews since it opened in 1979, were targeted late Saturday and early Sunday. Gunfire hit the windows of one storefront just an hour after another storefront was vandalized and its front glass shattered, according to the Toronto Police Service.
Police said their Hate Crime Unit was investigating, and they believed the same SUV may have been involved at both scenes. The bakeries were closed at the time and no injuries were reported.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “appalled” by the attacks. “Jewish Canadians should be able to live, work, and worship free from fear, intimidation, and hate,” he said on X on Monday. “Canada’s government is absolute in our commitment to combatting the scourge of antisemitism.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow added on X that the incidents were “vile and unacceptable” and said she “will always stand with Toronto’s Jewish community against antisemitism.”
Residents flocked to Kiva’s and sold out their bagels by 10:30 a.m. on Monday, according to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada. Resident Adrian Rocca, the founder of a local real estate company, posted a photo on LinkedIn of his employees lined up outside….
Jews and non-Jews in Toronto expressed their outrage at the attacks, and their support for the victims, in the most telling way possible: they showed up in vast numbers to buy bagels from Kiva Bagels as soon as the stores opened on Monday morning. And how many of those, who came as first-time customers to demonstrate solidarity, will continue to give the bagel stores their custom?
Carney pledged in June to fight antisemitism through a new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion. In his speech at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Synagogue, he said that the country was “failing Jewish Canadians.” Two-thirds of Canada’s religion-motivated hate crimes last year were directed at Jewish Canadians, who make up only 1% of the population, Carney said.
Carney, of course, does not connect his series of anti-Israel remarks, including his seeming endorsement of the charge of “genocide” flung at the Jewish state, with the upsurge in antisemitism in Canada.
