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Shoal Lake First Nation to get ‘freedom road’

The Canadian government has committed to building an all-weather road connecting the isolated Shoal Lake 40 First Nation to the mainland. “This is a serious commitment and it will happen,” indigenous affairs minister Carolyn Bennett told the Canadian Press. “So many of these issues are no longer indigenous issues. These are Canadian issues about our values and principles and how we can go forward in a good way.” The Shoal Lake reserve was cut off about 100 years ago during the construction of the aquaduct that brings potable water to Winnipeg. The reserve, which sits on the Manitoba-Ontario border, has been under a boil-water advisory for the last 18 years. Shoal Lake residents rely on a ferry that didn’t pass inspection and ice roads to connect them with health services, fresh water, and an education past Grade 8. The formal announcement for the “freedom road” will come soon, said Bennett. [Source: Globe and Mail]

Chrome releases Star Wars spoiler-blocker extension

The press has seen Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens but you haven’t. I haven’t. My neighbour hasn’t. And my want of reading stuff about the film comes from an ambivalent place. Would I be able to resist clicking on a review containing spoilers? Probably not. So, what you need to know today is that Google Chrome has an extension Force Block that scans the each site you access for mentions of the film and blacks out the page. Of course if you’re annoyingly sceptical, you’ll hate that this is a brief and you’ll hate how the lead up to this particular film is being used to sell so much crap, consume so much time, and waste so many words. But you’re not annoyingly sceptical, so be jocular about the whole thing and have a great day. [Source: Death and Taxes]

Canadian company selling air to smog-hit China

Canadian company Vitality Air has begun selling canisters of air and oxygen to China. And China, which is currently dealing with a smog crisis, has been buying them up. Vitality Air was borne out of a joke, when a gaggle of friends thought it would be nifty to see if a bag of air would sell online. “We were sort of goofing around and said, ‘What the hell, let’s throw it on eBay and see what happens,’ and lo and behold it sold,” co-founder Moses Lam told Daily News. “We knew we had a little bit of a venture here.” It’s been in business for six months, and normally sells about 400 canisters per month of air and oxygen “harvested” from our very own Rocky Mountains. That number has increased since the smog alerts in China began. Seven point seven litres of air will cost you USD$15, and three litres about USD$11. Lam claims it’s not a hoax and that people in places with poor air are reporting health benefits. [Source: NYDailyNews]

North Korea sentences Canadian to life of hard labour for “subversive plots”

North Korea sentences 60-year-old Canadian Christian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to a life term of hard labour. Lim confessed to the country’s highest court that since he arrived in North Korea under the guise of humanitarian work in January, he had been working on a plot to topple government and using “subversive plots and activities in a sinister bid to build a religious state”. Lim also reportedly gave lectures on how “North Korea should be collapses with the love of God,” and he admitted to helping North Koreans defect to the U.S. and South Korea. According to the BBC, North Korea prohibits religious activity. [Source: BBC]

The Darth Vader Yule log

And here’s No. 5: the Yule log you’ve all been waiting for. It’s five hours of waching Darth Vader’s corpse burn, complete with an opening shot of Luke and the cozy sound of a crackling fire.