Magic Statistics

h/t: Wicked Thoughts 

Egyptian authorities detained Adel Fawzi Faltas and Peter Ezzat in August on charges of propagating anti-Islamic material.  A state security court has now cleared the two men, both of whom members of the Ontario-based organisation Middle East Christian Association (MECA).

The material in question was a book entitled The Persecuted that the association compiled from Egyptian newspaper reports and court cases which involve perceived persecution of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority.

Initially, they were also accused of converting a Muslim, named as Mohamed Ahmed Hegazy, to Christianity, but this charge was later dropped owing to lack of evidence.

Mr Hegazy has been severely harassed and threatened with death by Muslim clerics.  He has now gone into hiding.

Although Mr Faltas and Mr Ezzat were acquitted, it is unclear whether they have yet been released from custody.

h/t: International Christian Concern

Previous related posts:

• Two Egyptian Christians arrested on dubious charges
• Egyptian sues for recognition of conversion to Christianity

Well, they say they're prepared to pitch in.  The Edmonton Journal reports on that international poll conducted by the BBC:

Canadians are among the world's leaders in being prepared to accept potential lifestyle changes and higher taxes in order to address climate change, according to a new poll released Monday.

But as I pointed out yesterday, talk is cheap actions speak louder than words.  What are Canadians actually doing about the alleged threat to the planet?

Canada's two biggest airlines both reported their best-ever October passenger traffic on Tuesday.

Air Canada said its consolidated load factor — the percentage of available seats occupied by passengers — came in at 78.6 per cent for the month. That was up from the 78.4 per cent load factor reported by the airline in October 2006.
. . .
Calgary-based WestJet, Air Canada's smaller rival, said it had an October load factor of 78.1 per cent, up 3.2 percentage points from the same month a year earlier.

"As we enter our fourth quarter, the demand for our new Caribbean and Mexican destinations is exceeding expectations," said WestJet president and CEO Sean Durfy.

I guess we can deal with the threat to the planet after we jet back from sunnier climes.

h/t for Edmonton Journal: John K at A Reasonable Faith, who asks the reasonable question: Has Al Gore bought a smaller house yet?

Previous related posts:

• From our “Talk Is Cheap” department
• World tourism booming: Bad news for the world
• CO2 emissions rising faster than ever
• Spot the comedian