No "human rights" for Americans in Canada

As we saw in the prosecution of Mark Steyn, it is risky to say anything critical about Muslims in Canada. Steyn was let off because he in fact made only factual statements, not contemptuous ones. The most vile statements about an American are however quite OK in Canada it seems. I will use similar language in further discussing the matter:

An ugly old bag named Heather Mallick did a piece on the Canadian government TV channel which made the vilest assertions about Sarah Palin and American Republicans generally. The super-sensitive Canadians who allow no ill to be spoken about anyone fired her straight away, right?

Wrong! She not only kept her job but her hit-piece remained up until at least last Saturday on the TV station website -- DESPITE the fact that the TV channel's own Ombudsman ruled that it was not up to the standards that the TV channel is supposed to follow. Canadians really are disgusting slime, superficially decent but rotted away with hate and envy on the inside.

Note that a Leftist British government and a conservative Australian government came to America's aid in Iraq but the Canadians did not. Brits and Australians don't envy anyone.

You can read the Canadian Ombudsman's report here. It is short and to the point and includes the offensive utterances by the old bag. After a protest in the media, the TV channel did finally delete the hit piece from their website. And the channel's boss has finally had an apology of a sort squeezed out of him.

Obama Wants NRA Ads Banned



We read:

"The Obama camp has been threatening television and radio stations to keep them from airing anti-Obama ads. The latest target is the NRA and stations in Pennsylvania.

Earlier this week, the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund released a series of radio and television spots to educate gun owners and sportsmen about Barack Obama's longstanding anti-gun record. In response to the NRA-PVF ads, a clearly panicked Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are doing everything they can to hide Obama's real record by mounting a coordinated assault on the First Amendment.

They have gone to desperate and outrageous lengths to try to silence your NRA by bullying media outlets with threats of lawsuits if they run NRA-PVF's ads. The Obama camp is particularly angry with an NRA ad entitled "Hunter" which lays out Obama's record on gun control.

The NRA charged that "Obama and the DNC have been using strong-arm tactics reminiscent of Chicago machine politics to try and cover up the truth and silence NRA by forcing the stations to assist them in hiding Obama's radical anti-gun record." ... The NRA has set up a web site detailing its position on Obama at www.gunbanobama.com.

Source

Political censorship is stock in trade for Leftists and their media allies. They can't afford for people to know the full facts about them and their policies. See below what Obama does not want you to see:

Another truth-teller dumped

It's an open secret that most Hispanics have a low opinion of blacks but it's another one of those many things that you must not mention unless you are prepared for shrieks of hokey rage from Leftists and the media (but I repeat myself).

"A Republican official in the US has resigned over comments he made to the BBC that "Hispanics consider themselves above blacks". Fernando de Baca, the chairman of the Republican Party in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, also said Hispanics "won't vote for a black president".

Mr de Baca spoke last week but resisted calls from his own party to resign, saying he was quoted out of context. He said he decided to step down because of the "media circus" that developed.

Mr de Baca had been approached by the BBC's Jon Kelly for comments on the presidential election campaign at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque, part of Bernalillo County. He was explaining why he thought John McCain would do well in the state, which has large population of Hispanics. "The truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors. African-Americans came here as slaves."

Source

LOL: I guess that bit about slaves versus conquerors was laying it on a bit thick. I am guessing that the comparison is a common one among Hispanics, though.

And I am also guessing that the size of the Hispanic vote for McCain will surprise a lot of people. It will be called "racism" but how many Blacks have trashed Mexicans as "stealing our jobs" etc.? Is that not racism? Are Hispanics not as free to think in racial terms as blacks are? It is the constant pushing of racial categorization by Democrats that is the root problem.

A comment from another Hispanic that I received via email: "I take the same crap but I don't back off. My recent charges that Obam is nothing but an affirmative action baby has brought forth the wrath of the guilt ridden white liberal, but I don't care, I'm right".

EU trying to regulate blogs

A proposal has been adopted by the EU parliament that aims to give a "legal framework" for blogs. The proposal is too nauseating in its hypocrisy for me to reproduce but you can find it here.

The author of the proposal says of blogs: "They are in position, however, to considerably pollute cyberspace". That gives you the flavor of it. Who is going to judge what is pollution and what is not? I am guessing that the socialist author of the proposal would regard this blog as "pollution" to be banned.

Some good commentary here.

There is no doubt that the EU is already halfway to Fascism. Since Russia is now clearly Fascist, America should get all its troops out of Europe and leave them to fight it out. Rescuing them from one another twice is enough.

"Coon" cheese is racist, says Australian black activist



Dr. Coon would be surprised.

"Emboldened by the State Government's decision to erase the word 'nigger' from a sports ground, an anti-racism activist says he will target Coon cheese. But Stephen Hagan's latest pursuit has already attracted hate-mail, with one emailer writing the cheese name should be changed to "nigga cheese".

Mr Hagan said he was used to personal attacks following his nine-year battle to have the racist term "nigger" removed from the E.S. "Nigger" Brown Stand in Toowoomba, named after the city's first international footballer. It is believed he received the nickname because he was particularly fair-skinned.

He said he was renewing his campaign against Coon cheese because he had information that it was called that nearly 10 years before Edward Coon lodged a patent in 1926. "I have my doubts about the original authenticity about the naming of that brand," Mr Hagan said. He said the word "Coon" was grossly offensive to indigenous people.

Source

Coon cheese is one of the most popular types of cheese sold in Australia and is named after the man who invented the process used in producing it. "Coon" was undoubtedly once used as a derogratory term for blacks but, as far as I know, has fallen out of use almost everywhere. I believe I have in fact heard the term used only once, when a person of Fascist sympathies referred to "Martin Luther Coon".

The fuss the guy above is making may well revive use of the term, however. "Anti-racists" generally do their best to keep racial antagonisms alive.

Update

See here for more on the origins of the cheese, written by a keen coon cheese eater.

Canadian student body bans abortion critics

York university. We read:

"I, along with many other students at York who are ardent believers in free speech, recently found myself outraged by the York Federation of Students' (YFS) attempt to ban all pro-life/`anti-choice' groups on campus by denying them campus resources, space and funding. This policy disables these groups and silences them - amounting to a sort of de facto censorship on the part of the YFS.

Needless to say, this decision has precipitated what will soon be a firestorm of debate regarding abortion. However, this will only obscure what this issue is really about, namely freedom of speech. This is due to the fact that when all is said (or not said) and done, the long and the short of what the YFS is doing is telling students what they can and cannot say, as well as what they should and should not believe. This undermines the purpose of our university, which should be a bastion of free speech and an arena for fair and open debate.

Furthermore, it acts as an affront to both what and whom the student union is supposed to stand for. Historically, the student union was created to be an enabling body that existed to expand and protect the freedoms of students against suppression by the university administration and the government. Now, however, it seems unable to protect us even from itself.

While it is quite obvious that the YFS's methods of enforcing their position are questionable, their reasons for enacting such a policy are not only disagreeable from an ideological stance, but are also quite illogical and completely unsubstantiated. Take for instance the YFS's first argument that pro-life groups foster an unsafe environment on campus and should therefore not be allowed. In response I would ask: "What exactly about pro-life groups is making the campus unsafe?" Labelling them "unsafe" would imply that they are somehow "harming" students. So, what do pro-life groups do, precisely, that "harms" students? What does the YFS define as "harm?" None of these questions have been answered.

Source

The usual bigoted Leftist crap. A High Court appeal under the Canadian Charter of Rights would probably succeed but that would take big bucks.

Australia: Asians must not be confused??

I guess I might be a bit confused if someone started yelling at me:

"The battle for control of a Queensland student union has turned nasty after claims its president posted an offensive comment about Asians on the internet. Joshua Young, the University of Queensland student union president, allegedly made the comments on his MySpace social networking page.

According to a copy of the page, Mr Young's blurb about himself described going to drunken parties and "yelling at confused Asian students"....

National Union of Students president Angus McFarland also described the comment as unacceptable. "The National Union of Students is completely against racism on university campuses and particularly if it were by student leaders," he said.

Source

I suppose the accusation is that he is calling Asian students characteristically confused. But the students concerned are mainly recent arrivals from China, Hong Kong etc. and anybody suddenly transplanted to a very different culture has every right to be confused. I would be pretty confused if I was suddenly put down in China!

A bit of sanity about Huck Finn in Connecticut at last

Talking about it is much better than banning it. Though the compulsory propaganda given out at the time will surely be painful. No doubt the kids will be told that blacks are poor suffering people who keep doing violent crime and failing exams because of racism against them.... yadda yadda yadda

"Instead of dropping "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from its reading list, the Manchester school system has decided to hold seminars for teachers on how to deal with issues of race before bringing the book back to classrooms.

The goal of the seminars is to put the book into perspective and create a dialogue on race, white privilege, satire and stereotyping, which were also issues when Twain published it in 1885.

"It does provide a very good platform to talk about racial issues and to actually without me going into detail as to where Twain was in Chapter 4 or Chapter 12," said Assistant Superintendent Anne Richardson. "It really provides a good opportunity to have a conversation about race."

The book will be back in classes next month after teachers complete a series of seminars, which will put the novel into the context of the time in which it was written.

Source

Australia: Racist to question special deals for blacks

We read:

"Treasurer Kevin Foley has accused State Opposition leader Martin Hamilton-Smith of being happy to "kick a black" and engage in "racism politics".

Mr Foley went on the attack yesterday in State Parlianment after Mr Hamilton-Smith asked a question about the HomeStart Finance "Nunga Loan" scheme - a home loan package designed for Aborigines - and the risks associated with them.

Mr Hamilton-Smith compared the Nunga Loans product to the subprime loans in the U.S. that sparked an economic meltdown. He said loans above a property's value were approved to high credit risk customers "augmented by additional loans to pay for credit card and hire purchase debts".

But Mr Foley said: "We have done that for white fellas too." "When you want to make an opportunity, when you want to get into the headlines, you will kick a black," Mr Foley said.

Source

The usual Leftist inversion of reality. THEY are the ones discriminating on the basis of race.

Italy: Comic escapes prosecution for insulting Pope

We read:

"An Italian comic who said Pope Benedict would be punished in hell for the church's treatment of homosexuals was spared possible prosecution on Thursday when the government blocked an investigation against her. Sabina Guzzanti, one of Italy's most biting political satirists, made the remarks before a cheering crowd of thousands gathered at Rome's Piazza Navona in July.

A Rome prosecutor suspected the comments broke a law protecting the honor and dignity of the leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics under a 1929 Italian treaty with the Vatican.But the treaty, signed by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, required government approval before the investigation could go forward. Justice Minister Angelino Alfano decided to block it."

Source

Australia: Guilty of quoting the Bible

The scriptural quotation below is accurately summarized

Gun lobbyist Ron Owen has been told he is entitled to express his homophobic views, but that he went too far with the bumper sticker: "Gay Rights? Under God's law the only rights gays have is the right to die." Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Tribunal found Mr Owen guilty of inciting hatred against homosexuals with the bumper sticker when he parked his car outside the Cooloola Shire Council officers in Gympie, north of Brisbane.

Tribunal member Darryl Rangiah handed down a 77-page decision, which also ordered Mr Owen to publish a written apology for inciting hatred and causing offence to the homosexual community of Gympie. Mr Rangiah acknowledged Mr Owen's right to free speech, but said he had gone too far with the bumper sticker and in ensuing comments made during a television interview, in a report to a subsequent council meeting and in a letter on his website. "Ron Owen is entitled to be a homophobe and he is entitled to publicly express his homophobic views," he said. "That much is required in a society that values freedom of thought and expression. However there are limits." [So how can he "publicly express his homophobic views" if even a bumper sticker is illegal?]

The tribunal ruled that Mr Owen - while not the registered owner of the car - had use of it and that the sticker went "beyond a mere joke". "The ordinary member of the public would, in my opinion, understand that he or she was being urged to hate and to have serious contempt for homosexuals," Mr Rangiah said. [That's what the Bible does too]

Source

Must not diss Obama in a Colorado school



We read:

"An 11-year-old in Aurora says his first amendment rights are being trampled after he was suspended for wearing a homemade shirt that reads "Obama is a terrorist's best friend." The fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School wore it on a day when students were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism.

The boy's father Dann Dalton describes himself as a "proud conservative" who has taken part in some controversial anti-abortion protests. Dalton says the school made a major mistake by suspending his son for wearing the shirt. "It's the public school system," Dalton says. "Let's be honest, it's full of liberal loons."

According the the boy's father, the school district told the student, Daxx Dalton, that he had the choice of changing his shirt, turning his shirt inside out or being suspended. Daxx chose suspension.

"They're taking away my right of freedom of speech," he says. "If I have the right to wear this shirt I'm going to use it. And if the only way to use it is get suspended, then I'm going to get suspended." .... The boy's father says he intends to pursue a lawsuit against the district.

Source

DC: Firefighter battles to keep his beard

We read:

"Steven Chasin, a Jewish paramedic in D.C., was forced to shave his beard when the department passed a mandatory shaving order. A veteran Jewish firefighter in Washington, D.C., is heading to court - with the backing of Muslim and Christian groups - to fight for his right to grow facial hair, an expression of what he says are his religious beliefs.

Steven Chasin, a paramedic with 18 years in the department, is fighting to keep his beard in defiance of an order passed two years ago that all fire department members be clean-shaven. Chasin, 40, is one of a group of fire department employees - the others are Muslims and Nazarene Christians - who are challenging the department's ban on facial hair, said Chasin's attorney, Art Spitzer."

Source

If pole dancing and flag burning are protected by the 1st Amendment, beards should be a slam dunk.

And there's no doubt that beards are part of Jewry, Hasidic Jewry, anyway. Amazing hats too!

Far-Leftist sympathy for terrorists being preached to future Australian army officers

We read:

"A retired Australian general has dismissed as "unmitigated rubbish" a defence force course which teaches soldiers that terrorists are "victims". A Bali bombing victim has also expressed dismay at the Australian Defence Force Academy's terror studies degree. Maj-Gen Jim Molan, who in 2004 was Chief of Operations of Coalition forces in Iraq, has hit out at the lecturers who run the security and terror course.

Prof Anthony Burke, senior lecturer at the University of NSW where ADFA classes are held, in his book Beyond Security, Ethics and Violence, said students should try to understand terrorists rather than fight them. "In the wake of 9/11, our critical task is not to help power seek out and destroy the 'enemies of freedom' but to question how they were constructed AS enemies of freedom . . . It is to wonder if we, the free, might already be enemies of freedom in the very process of imagining and defending it," he wrote. In another book, Fear of Security, Australia's Invasion Anxiety, Prof Burke said we should "abandon selfish visions of security, sovereignty and national interest".

The Department of Defence said it encouraged "robust debate among ADF personnel at all levels".

Source

I wonder if "robust debate" about the level of African immigration into Australia would also be permitted? I suspect that debate on that topic would be too robust altogether!

There's always free speech for ideas that Leftists like. For other ideas not so much. And some things may not be mentioned at all (particularly things to do with Africans). I would like it if there really were robust debate about everything but I am not holding my breath.

Canadian Muslim leader still attacking free speech

Muslims just don't seem to "get" free speech -- except when it's freedom to attack Jews and Israel, of course. That's ALWAYS free speech! Any notion of abstract or impartial justice seems to be alien to Muslims. How something affects "our tribe" seems to be the only criterion of justice that they have. It's very primitive thinking.

"Hate speech creates a "silencing dynamic" that excludes disadvantaged groups from civil participation, according to Mohamed Elmasry, national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

In a submission to Richard Moon, a University of Windsor law professor hired by the Canadian Human Rights Commission to review its online hate speech mandate, Prof. Elmasry writes that "the state should act to empower those who are disadvantaged by hate speech, and that may mean lowering the voices of some in order that others may be heard."

He called for mandatory press councils, and an end to "media monopoly," and said the CHRC was wrong to dismiss his recent complaint of Islamophobia in Maclean's magazine, which "aired its opinions to more than two million readers, but CHRC did not hold a hearing for Canadian Muslims and experts to voice their views."

Source

Must not criticize Islam

British critic to be banned from teaching because of his "intolerance". British teachers are generally very Leftist and so are those who control and represent them.

"A teacher could face being struck off over allegations of racial and religious intolerance. Adam Walker, who taught at Houghton Kepier School, is believed to be the first teacher to be hauled before England's General Teaching Council (GTC) to face the charge. It is believed he is accused of expressing views "suggestive of racial and religious intolerance" in an Internet forum.

The 39-year-old, from County Durham, has stood as a candidate for the British National Party (BNP) in local elections. He claims the allegations against him are driven by "politically motivated spite". Mr Walker, a design teacher, resigned from Houghton Kepier Sports College after the school began disciplinary action in early 2007.

Source

The BNP is an anti-immigration party.

Note the following Leftist comment from another report of the matter:

"But Christina McAnea, of the Unison union, questioned whether BNP members should be allowed to teach. "Schools should be centres of learning and tolerance, not a breeding ground for the poisonous views of the BNP," she said.

Christina sounds pretty intolerant herself. Perhaps she too should be banned from teaching.

Blogger in Muslim country 'arrested for upside-down flag'

We read:

"MALAYSIAN authorities have arrested a second blogger, this time for displaying an upside-down national flag on his website, according to reports. Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, better known as Sheih Kickdefella, was picked up by police late yesterday under the Sedition Act from his home in opposition-held northern Kelantan state, the Star daily reported.

Mr Syed Azidi, known for his links to the opposition conservative Islamic PAS party, had recently organised a nationwide Internet campaign to fly the Malaysian flag upside down in a sign of protest over the country's political and economic turmoil. The campaign caused outrage in the conservative Muslim-led country with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ordering a police investigation into the matter.

Source

I'm guessing that they would have shot him if he had done what American Leftists routinely do to the American flag. An old pal of Mr Obama below:

Google leaves violent videos up for long periods

We read:

"YouTube, the world's largest video-sharing website, this week removed over two dozen videos glorifying gangs and gang violence which had been on its website in some cases for over 18 months.

Following a Times investigation into harmful and inappropriate material on Youtube, the website took down 30 film clips, most shot in grainy video showing hooded youths brandishing illegal weapons such as machetes, hand guns and even sub-machine guns. Google admitted they were clearly in breach of its own user guidelines which had recently been revised to deal with gang videos.

Google's Head of Communications in Britain, former Newsnight editor Peter Barron, said that as a result of concern about the use of the website by gangs, it had now introduced new guidelines prohibiting users from showing weapons in their videos in order to intimidate people, but that these had only "gone live" on Friday.

He blamed "teething problems" with the new policy for the fact that its own monitors had failed to removed the material after a Times reporter posing as an ordinary user had flagged them up as inappropriate three days after the new policy had been introduced.

Source

But anti-Muslim postings get the chop pronto

Victory for Free Speech at Valdosta State University, Georgia

We read:

"In a welcome reversal, Valdosta State University (VSU) has revoked its unconstitutional free speech zone policy, restoring free expression to the vast majority of VSU's campus. Newly installed VSU President Patrick J. Schloss announced the new policy in a letter to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The change comes in response to months of pressure from FIRE and removes VSU from FIRE's Red Alert list, a distinction reserved for institutions demonstrating a severe and ongoing disregard for the fundamental rights of students or faculty members.

VSU's former free speech zone policy restricted the free expression of all "persons wishing to speak on campus" to one small stage, the use of which was restricted to two non-consecutive hours per day -and only on weekdays. The new policy effectively restores freedom of expression to VSU's entire 168-acre campus, stating that expressive activity will be "uncensored" and may take place on the "campus green" without prior reservation or other regulation. The stage has been relegated to hosting additional "public discussion or debate" and is now open at all hours and available without regard to the content of the expressive activity taking place.

FIRE first wrote former VSU President Robert Zaccari in November 2007, explaining that VSU "cannot lawfully quarantine free expression to just one area of the school's 168-acre campus" and warning that VSU's unconstitutional free speech zone was in violation of the school's legal obligation to uphold the First Amendment. Over the next nine months, FIRE would write Zaccari twice more, as well as create a short film about VSU's free speech zone. FIRE's campaign to eliminate VSU's free speech zone culminated in an advertisement in the 2009 edition of U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges issue highlighting VSU's position on FIRE's Red Alert list.

The policy change is the latest development in a turbulent year for freedom of expression at VSU. Over the past year, former VSU President Zaccari sparked national controversy by personally expelling former student T. Hayden Barnes on the basis of a satirical collage posted at Facebook.com. With FIRE's aid, Barnes' expulsion was finally reversed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

After Barnes filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that Zaccari and other VSU administrators had violated his constitutional rights, Zaccari retired several months earlier than planned. That lawsuit is ongoing.

Source

Another Golliwog furore



Golliwogs are old-fashioned soft toys for children modelled on the appearance of an African. They are still popular with children in England and Australia.

"A mother ended up getting arrested in a bizarre case of political correctness gone mad when her six-year-old daughter stuck a golliwog doll on their windowsill. English 39-year-old Amanda Schofield was quizzed on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after a neighbour complained.

Schofield, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, had removed the toy from the window as she put little Eboni to bed - yet was still visited by cops the same night. She was asked to attend a police station and was not charged.

Schofield told our sister paper The Sun: "I feel like a criminal. I can't believe it." A police spokesman said: "It was the latest in a number of previous incidents that the victim perceived to be race-related."

Source

State Supreme Court Throws a Monkey Wrench in Anti-Spam Policy: Virginia Declares Law 'Unconstitutional'

We read:

"The Virginia Supreme Court declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional last week and reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. The court unanimously agreed with Jeremy Jaynes' argument that the law violates the free-speech protections of the First Amendment because it does not just restrict commercial emails. Most other states also have anti-spam laws, and there is a federal CAN-SPAM Act as well, the AP reports.

The Virginia law "is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk emails, including those containing political, religious or other speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," Justice G. Steven Agee wrote, reports AP writer Larry O'Dell.

In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the country to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk email. Authorities claimed Jaynes sent up to 10 million emails a day from his home in Raleigh, N.C. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. Jaynes was charged in Virginia because the emails went through an AOL server there.

Source

It does sound like the law was badly drafted. In accordance with the 1st Amendment, religious messages should have been exempted. That they were not, however, may have been intentional.

Must condemn creationism at all times

We read:

"The hard-line zealots of the Royal Society, Britain's most prestigious scientific institution, finally did for Michael Reiss yesterday. Reiss was the Society's director of education. He is an evolutionary biologist - and a minister in the Church of England. Last week he went public with his belief that science teachers shouldn't simply dismiss questions from pupils about creationism, but explain why it's not compatible with science. Reiss made clear that he did not believe in creationism himself, nor believed it should be given equal billing with evolution.

It made no difference: within hours, the Royal Society zealots mounted a full-scale character assassination and last night Reiss agreed to step down. The zealots' point-man was Richard 'Mad Mullah' Dawkins, who compared having "a clergyman" directing education at the Royal Society to "a Monty Python sketch". But the real heavies are known only to seasoned observers of scientific fundamentalism: Sir Richard Roberts, Sir Harry Kroto and Sir John Sulston, Nobel Prize winners all.

Roberts plunged the knife, firing off a letter to the President of the Royal Society, Lord Rees, demanding to know "who on earth thought that [Reiss] would be an appropriate director of education?" and describing Reiss's religious occupation as "worrisome".

What many will find worrisome is the intolerance of eminent scientists to the suggestion of engagement with the questions of children. Yet they are far from alone. Fundamentalism is spreading across science, with zealots ready to attack anyone who dares question the accepted teaching - be it the unquestionable importance of animal experiments or the unimpeachable evidence for dramatic global warming.

The motto of Royal Society is 'Nullius in verba' - roughly speaking, take no-one's word for it. Its treatment of Reiss suggests that when it comes to words of dissent, the attitude of the Royal Society is closer to that of a madrassa than a learned body.

Source

The Truth about the Southern Poverty Law Center:

I have mentioned the SPLC a few times because of their constant screeches of "hate" directed at anyone to the Right of Ted Kennedy. So I thought it might be interesting to readers to find out a bit more about who is doing the screeching. See here for some useful links. People who celebrate their Southern heritage might be particularly interested. The Stars and Bars might as well be a swastika as far as the SPLC fruitcakes are concerned.

The pants amendment?

We read:

"A Florida judge has deemed unconstitutional a law banning baggy pants that show off the wearer's underwear. A 17-year-old spent a night in jail last week after police arrested him for wearing low pants in Riviera Beach, Florida.

The law banning so-called "saggy pants'' was approved by city voters in March after supporters of the bill collected nearly 5,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

"Somebody help me,'' said Palm Beach Circuit Judge Paul Moyle, before giving his decision. "We're not talking about exposure of buttocks. No! We're talking about someone who has on pants whose underwear are apparently visible to a police officer who then makes an arrest and the basis is he's then held overnight, no bond."

"Your honour, we now have the fashion police,'' said public defender Carol Bickerstaff, who asked the law be declared "unconstitutional.'' The judge agreed with Bickerstaff immediately, reported the Post.

Source

The 1st amendment has previously been stretched to cover other non-speech activities such as pole-dancing and flag-burning so I suppose this decision is correct in terms of stare decisis. One wonders where the limits are, though

Google's pro-abortion bias defeated

We read:

"Christian and other religious groups opposed to abortion were allowed to advertise on Google for the first time from today, after the search engine capitulated in the face of a legal challenge. Google had banned pro-life religious groups from buying adverts against search terms such as "abortion" and "abortion help" but was forced to abandon its policy after it was accused of breaching equalities legislation.

The challenge was brought by the Christian Institute, a cross-denominational pressure group, who said that Google's change of heart was an acknowledgement of the rights of everybody to hold an opinion on the subject. Mike Judge from the Christian Institute said: "Google were taking adverts from pro-abortion groups, and our view is that was a free speech issue. What we want to do is set out the acts in a pretty factual and pretty sensible way".

Google had been taken to court by the Christian Institute earlier in the year, arguing that its policy was in breach of the Equalities Act of 2006. Initially, Google said it would fight in the courts, but changed its mind over the summer. Its new policy applies globally. Acknowledging that the issue of abortion was "an emotive subject", Google said that it reconsidered its policy following the Christian Institute's challenge, and said it would be "creating a level playing field and enabling religious associations to place ads on abortion in a factual way".

Source

Wicked Catholic beads

Texas High School Student Told Rosary Is 'Gang Symbol':

"A Texas teen claims she is forbidden from wearing a rosary around her neck in school because the Catholic prayer beads are a gang symbol. Tabitha Ruiz was stopped by security guards at Seagoville High School in Dallas last week and told to take off the silver and ruby beaded rosary, a gift from her mother. On Monday, the same thing happened when she again came to the school wearing the beads. "I went to school, walked through the metal detectors and they told me to take it off," the teen said. "I asked them why and they said because it's gang-related."

Ruiz and her mother, Taire Ferguson, said they had no idea that rosary beads were a gang symbol. Police, however, are well aware. "Lately they've been seen wearing religious jewelry such as the rosary worn by gang members, so it is a factor," Sr. Cpl Kevin Janse of the Dallas Police Department told the FOX affiliate.

Source

So what if it is a gang symbol? It is also a respected religious symbol. A clearcut breach of the 1st Amendment to ban them. It's not even illegal for gang members to wear gang symbols.

It's going to be fun if gang members start wearing Muslim crescents, skullcaps or other Muslim garb, though. Shall we bet that Muslims won't be stripped of their Muslim garb because of that?

Nasty British socialized medicine system still trying to shut up its critics

I noted on 15th. that a "Dr. Scot" had been suspended from his job because he criticized some of the incompetent bosses in the health system. I am pleased to report that he has now been given his job back. The publicity got too much for the bitches responsible, apparently.

Now, however, another doctor has been fired for complaining about the low standards and poor funding. Britain has strong unfair dismissal laws and a tribunal not afraid to enforce them so she will almost certainly get her job back but it is still harassment designed to shut her up. More details on SOCIALIZED MEDICINE.

CA teacher can sue to restore patriotic banners



We read:

"A high school mathematics teacher has won a round in federal court in his fight to put "God Bless America" and "One Nation Under God" banners back in his classroom.

Brad Johnson, a teacher at Westview High in San Diego County, had the banners up in his classroom for two decades, but last year the principal ordered him to take them down, saying they were an impermissible attempt to make a Judeo-Christian statement to his students.

Johnson sued in federal court. Poway Unified School District officials sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that, as a public employee, Johnson had only limited 1st Amendment rights while on the job and that the principal had authority over what was put on classroom walls.

In a blistering 23-page decision, U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez rejected the district's motion as legally faulty and blasted its "brash" attempt to take down the banners. The jurist noted that the district allowed other teachers to put up posters with Buddhist and Islamic messages, posters of rock bands including Nirvana and the Clash, and Tibetan prayer rugs.

Johnson's banners, Benitez wrote, were patriotic expressions deeply rooted in American history. "By squelching only Johnson's patriotic expression, the school district does a disservice to the students of Westview High School, and the federal and state constitutions do not permit such one-sided censorship," Benitez wrote in a ruling issued last week.

Source

Democrats can get away with racism

Senator Joe Biden plugged his running mate yesterday on the campaign trail in North Carolina. He stressed the importance in electing someone who is black.

"Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, campaigning in North Carolina where black votes could help swing the state to the Democrats, said today that electing a black person to the White House would be transformative.

Biden said the policies of running mate Barack Obama make his presidency even more urgent and declared this to be the most important election that any living person has seen in their lifetime. But he particularly singled out the meaning of electing someone who is black.

Source

Can I say to vote McCain because he is white?

Labor union hate speech against FAIR

Below is most of a recent press release from SIEU, a labor union mainly for government employees:

"Service Employees International Union (SEIU), America's Voice, Center for New Community, and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) launched a print ad denouncing known hate group, FAIR (the Federation for American Immigration Reform), for poisoning the immigration debate with bigoted, xenophobic hate speech. In support of the ad, SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina issued the following statement:

"It's time that everyone learns who FAIR's founders, leaders and followers truly are. They are not reformers, but a group of extremists whose leaders are fostering a bigoted, anti-immigrant, anti-American agenda that we must stop."

"We will not allow such a raging extremist group to hide behind this false veil of reform. By continuing to fan the flames of hate and fear, FAIR has contributed to rising levels of hate crimes and discrimination that we are seeing in immigrant communities across the country. There is no place for such fanatical hate speech anywhere in America today-especially not in the halls of Congress."

Source

No referenced facts or rational debate there. Just hate-filled rage. Accusing others of your own faults ("projection") is as old and the hills and SIEU use it to such a degree that you wonder if they have anything else to say. To me they just sound like foaming morons.

FAIR replies here, with facts and logic rather than rage. Judge for yourself if it is "fanatical hate speech".

One of the other main slanderers of FAIR is the SPLC, who claim to teach tolerance. I can't find anywhere on their site where they teach tolerance for Americans who like the law to be enforced, however. It's only some groups especially selected for us by our "betters" that deserve tolerance, apparently.

A small victory for free speech

Naughty novel to be published after all

"Gibson Square, a British publishing house, has announced that it will soon release "The Jewel of Medina," a novel by American author Sherry Jones whose publication in the United States was recently canceled by Random House for fear of triggering violence by Islamic fanatics. Bravo.

The novel fictionalizes the relationship between the Prophet Muhammad and his youngest bride, Aisha. After paying the author a significant advance and making plans for the release of the book, Random House sent copies of the galleys to various scholars, some of whom told the publisher that the content distorted history, would inflame Muslims and could cause much trouble. Security experts were also consulted. Random House decided to cancel publication of Jones' work, invoking reasons of "safety."

Many people in the West misunderstand what freedom of expression means. They associate it with the restriction on the power of the government to interfere with the freedom to express oneself. It is really a restriction on the power of anyone to interfere with anyone else's right to free expression, including but not limited to the government. If a business decision is made under extreme fear-directly or indirectly caused by force from a third person rather than the government-freedom of expression also suffers.

I am not interested in the reasons why Gibson Square has decided to publish the book-whether opportunism, greed, love of scandal, a dislike of the prophet, or a belief in the merits of the novel. But the fact that someone, somewhere, is willing to run the risk of not letting the threat of violence inhibit free expression is tremendously comforting

Source

20 years' jail for "errors" in Koran translation

We read:

"An Afghan court has sentenced an ex-journalist and a mullah to 20 years in prison each for publishing a translation of the Koran alleged to contain errors, friends and media rights groups said today. Afghan and international media rights organisations condemned the sentences handed down yesterday and called on President Hamid Karzai to intervene.

Former journalist Ahmed Ghous Zalmai was arrested in November trying to escape into Pakistan as religious clerics and parliament were in an uproar about a Dari-language version of the Muslim holy book he had published.

Mullah Qari Mushtaq, who was sentenced with him, had approved the version which other clerics and parliamentarians claimed contained errors and misunderstandings about issues such as homosexuality and adultery. Critics also complained the book did not include the original Arabic text as required by Islamic law.

Source

There are all sorts of debates among Bible scholars about the best translation of certain scriptural passages but the debate is carried on in a much more mature way than the childish fearfulness we see above. One is allowed to seek the truth in the text itself in Christian circles but in Muslim circles it seems that what the dominant faction says must not be questioned.

Free speech punished by senior "National Health" doctors

Britain's socialized medicine system -- the NHS -- is just another nasty bureaucracy. It must not be criticized by its employees:

"A junior doctor made a rude comment on a doctors' only forum about one of the top bananas who masterminded the plan to 'improve' doctors' training and 'career paths'. 'Modernising Medical Careers', as it's called, is very widely disliked. Its benefits seem to be mostly for employers and the government - not doctors or patients.

Our Dr Scot Jnr, who works in a Highlands hospital, made some forthright comments (which included some 'Anglo-Saxon' words) about one of the MMC architects who is a career medical politician.

He was immediately suspended from work: a high-powered London close friend of the top banana architect had seen the comment and called another chum, another big tamale medical woman, up in the Highlands. A plot - allegedly unlawful - was hatched between them, Chinese-whisperish, to silence and punish Dr Scot Jnr forthwith.

This summary activity has deep implications for the freedom of doctors to speak out against diktats they don't agree with, and it demonstrates how bullied and harassed clinical staff are. One in four junior doctors report being bullied and intimidated by senior doctors (figure from BMA report). Ultimately it has deep implications for the quality of care and treatment doctors are allowed to give patients.

Fundamentally, this silencing and intimidatory activity is an onslaught on freedom of speech for all of us. In the NHS particularly, this toxic culture is so deeply entrenched that it goes barely noticed by most, it's part of the environment like targets or management suite shagpile. This hidden culture of intimidation and fear is also the reason that so many patients are not able to get the treatment they need or the apologies they deserve when things go wrong.

Source

YouTube Bars Radical Islamic Videos, Hate Speech and Promotion of Violence

At long last, a more evenhanded approach. They have long censored stuff that is critical of Islam

"Sen. Joe Lieberman, Head of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced on Thursday that the popular video sharing site YouTube will no longer allow radical Islamic videos, hate speech or promote violence.

Lieberman has long stated that Islamic radicals had been using YouTube as a means of broadcasting their messages. The Delaware senator had contacted Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt and requested the videos be pulled from the site, Google purchased YouTube in October 2006.

Under the revised "Community Guidelines" now posted on YouTube warns in part "Things like predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, intimidation, invading privacy, revealing other people's personal information, and inciting others to commit violent acts or to violate the Terms of Use are taken very seriously. Anyone caught doing these things may be permanently banned from YouTube.'

Source

One can only hope that they live up to it in fact. Just banning all incitement to violence would be sufficient in my view but an evenhanded approach can at least be respected.

If "death to infidels" and "death to America" are OK, why not "death to Muslims"?



We read:

"A video game made by an Australian man that encourages players to massacre Muslim people has caused international outrage. "Muslim Massacre" is promoted as taking place after the US "declares war" on the religion of Islam and encourages players to wipe out followers. "The United States of America has declared war on Islam!" the Muslim Massacre website says. "Take control of the American hero and wipe out the Muslim race with an arsenal of the world's most destructive weapons."

The targets appear as bearded men wearing normal clothes or characters in black outfits with facemasks. Later levels include suicide bombers and a "boss" opponent resembling Osama Bin Laden.

Mr Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the UK Muslim youth organisation the Ramadhan Foundation, said the game was unacceptable, tasteless and deeply offensive.

Source

Criminalizing Criticism of Islam

We read:

"There are strange happenings in the world of international jurisprudence that do not bode well for the future of free speech. In an unprecedented case, a Jordanian court is prosecuting 12 Europeans in an extraterritorial attempt to silence the debate on radical Islam.

The prosecutor general in Amman charged the 12 with blasphemy, demeaning Islam and Muslim feelings, and slandering and insulting the prophet Muhammad in violation of the Jordanian Penal Code. The charges are especially unusual because the alleged violations were not committed on Jordanian soil.

Among the defendants is the Danish cartoonist whose alleged crime was to draw in 2005 one of the Muhammad illustrations that instigators then used to spark Muslim riots around the world. His co-defendants include 10 editors of Danish newspapers that published the images. The 12th accused man is Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, who supposedly broke Jordanian law by releasing on the Web his recent film, "Fitna," which tries to examine how the Quran inspires Islamic terrorism.

Amman has already requested that Interpol apprehend Mr. Wilders and the Danes and bring them to stand before its court for an act that is not a crime in their home countries. To the contrary. Dutch prosecutors said in July that although some of Mr. Wilders's statements may be offensive, they are protected under Dutch free-speech legislation. Likewise, Danish law protects the rights of the Danish cartoonists and newspapers to express their views.

Neither Denmark nor the Netherlands will turn over its citizens to Interpol, as the premise of Jordan's extradition request is an affront to the very principles that define democracies. It is thus unlikely that any Western country would do so, either. But there is no guarantee for the defendants' protection if they travel to countries that are more sympathetic to the Jordanian court.

Source

Actress faces jail for saying Pope will go to hell

We read:

"An Italian comedienne who said that Pope Benedict XVI would go to Hell and be tormented by homosexual demons is facing a prison term of up to five years. Addressing a Rome rally in July, Sabrina Guzzanti warmed up with a few gags about Silvio Berlusconi - her favourite target for her biting impressions - before moving on to some unrepeatable jokes about Mara Carfagna, the Equal Opportunities Minister and one-time topless model.

But then she got religion, and after warning everyone that within 20 years Italian teachers would be vetted and chosen by the Vatican, she got to the punchline: "But then, within 20 years the Pope will be where he ought to be - in Hell, tormented by great big poofter devils, and very active ones, not passive ones."

The joke may have gone done well with her crowd on the Piazza Navona in Rome, but not with Italian prosecutors. She is facing prosecution for "offending the honour of the sacred and inviolable person" of Benedict XVI.

Source

More details here. If it's hate speech to criticize Islam, then it's surely hate speech to criticize the Pope. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Challenge set for pulpit endorsement ban

We read:

"A conservative advocacy group plans to test a U.S. legal prohibition on clergy endorsing candidates from the pulpit, The Washington Post reported Monday. The Alliance Defense Fund maintains that the ban is unconstitutional and plans to try to make its point by having several pastors violate the Internal Revenue Service rule Sept. 28, the newspaper said.

The organization, based in Arizona, intends to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the prohibition, which was imposed in a 1954 amendment to the Internal Revenue Code that bans non-profit, tax-exempt entities from participating or intervening in "any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office."

ADF attorney Erik Stanley told the Post: "It is the job of the pastors of America to debate the proper role of church in society. It's not for the government to mandate the role of church in society."

Source

The IRS ruling looks like a straightforward breach of the 1st Amemndment to me. It is a wonder that it has not been challenged before.

Russians get uptight over "South Park"

We read:

"Moscow prosecutors began legal proceedings aimed at the cartoon series "South Park" Monday in a bid to kill Kenny in Russia. Prosecutors took action against the 2x2 television channel for broadcasting an episode of the animated comedy series that featured Christmas songs, including a medley duet performed by Santa Claus and Jesus Christ. Prosecutors have announced that the program "bore signs of extremist activity."

The episode in question, called "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics," was aired in Moscow in January. It shows a number of regular and guest characters including Satan, Adolf Hitler and Mr. Hankey, an anthropomorphised human feces, performing in a Christmas variety show. An accompanying CD is available to buy.

"In accordance with the conclusions made by experts from the court investigations committee, a claim has been filed against 2x2 for its broadcast of an episode of 'South Park,'" said Valentina Titova, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office.

The cartoon series created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker in 1997 has attracted criticism throughout its award-winning run and often targets special interest groups and religions for mockery.

It offends the honour and dignity of Christians and Muslims alike," Moscow prosecutors said in a statement. "It could just have easily included Jews, Scientologists, Catholics, Mormons and Moonies all of whom have been mercilessly targeted by American series."

Source

It looks like the Fascists who now rule Russia have no more sense of humor than the old Communists did.

Must not mention that blacks have large lips

We read:

"The leader of a statewide group of college Republicans has been forced to resign after posting racially insensitive comments about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on the Internet. Adam LaDuca, 21, the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans, wrote on his Facebook page in late July that Obama has "a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)"

LaDuca, who previously had called Martin Luther King Jr. a "pariah" and a "fraud," also wrote: "And man, if sayin' someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we're ALL in trouble."

The College Republicans asked LaDuca to resign after his remarks were publicized by the Pennsylvania Progressive, a blog written by a Democratic committeeman from Berks County. The group announced LaDuca's resignation on its Web site Friday.

Source

So the fact that the guy called MLK a "pariah" and a "fraud" counts against him too? I subscribe to MLK's dream. Its main opponents today are the Left, who are constantly judging people by the color of their skin. But that does not mean that one must not say anything negative about MLK. So let me say something negative: MLK was a philanderer and a plagiarist. Both descriptions are true and that will do me. But he still had an inspiring dream. He was, after all, a Republican.

Who's Inciting Hate?

FAIR Responds to Pro-Illegal Alien Amnesty Coalition's Inflammatory Ads Defaming Millions of Americans who Support Immigration Reform:

"Having been unable to convince the American public that a mass illegal alien amnesty was justified or served any public interest, advocates for amnesty have launched an orchestrated and well-financed campaign to smear the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and others involved in defeating last year's immigration bill. Using full-page ads in today's editions of The Politico and Roll Call, this coalition of special interest groups uses inflammatory language and stock photos of individuals who have no association with FAIR to incite hatred against anyone who has the audacity to oppose their views on immigration policy. The tone and content of these ads demonstrates that their strategy to silence proponents of immigration reform has resulted in the ugliest and most negative public relations campaign in the history of American politics.

Instead of seeking to promote rational, intelligent, meaningful dialogue on immigration reform, one of the most important issues facing our nation today the ad utterly distorts FAIR's 30-year record of advocacy on immigration reform and merely parrots previous distortions. La Raza and other members of the coalition claim that one in seven Americans (which equals 45 million people) are members of hate or extremist groups. In fact, considering how many Americans oppose amnesty and support the enforcement of our immigration laws, this coalition might want to consider whether they wouldn't simply save themselves time and money and simply call the American public in whole a hate group....

Source

OK to call GWB a "retard"



I noted on August 12 how vastly incorrect the word "retard" seems to be. Some hairy British Leftist, however, thought nothing of applying the word to GWB:

"If his aim was to be noticed by America, Russell Brand more than achieved his goal last night as he ranted that President Bush was a "retarded cowboy" while hosting the MTV awards.

The British comedian, who is a virtual unknown in America, left the creme of the music world stunned as he championed Barack Obama, ran down George Bush and made lewd jokes about the Christian pop band Jonas Brothers.

Brand told the Hollywood audience they must vote for Barrack Obama "on behalf of the world", before insinuating that America had lower standards than Britain when it came to picking leaders.

"Some people, I think they're called racists, say America is not ready for a black president. "But I know America to be a forward thinking country because otherwise why would you have let that retard and cowboy fella be president for eight years?

Source

Predictably, The New York Times loved it! But many listeners did not.

Billboards in computer game picture "disrespect" blacks?



Ayers rock, now known as Uluru, is a big lump of rock that seems to have crashed into the middle of Australia from outer space eons ago. It looks rather spectacular rising from the flat desert around it. It has always been something of a sight for tourists. Some Australian blacks claim it has religious significance for them, however, so the Australian government now heavily restricts access to it by whites.

But what about a picture of the rock in a computer game? Is that sacred too? Apparently it is. As we read:

"Telstra BigPond has come under fire for placing advertising billboards on its Second Life island right in front of a virtual model of Uluru. The company has since removed the billboards, which contained BigPond logos, after online communities expert Laurel Papworth complained in a blog post titled "Bigpond brands uluru". She claimed the telco was being insensitive to indigenous Australians.

Source

It's the mavericks who squelch debate??

Blame the victim! A loony British-Indian academic blames the VICTIMS (not the perpetrators) of censorship for shutting down debate:

"A troubling collaboration between parts of the media and some academics and writers becomes visible here. Pervasive silences or gaps in knowledge around difficult issues of race, class and difference may be periodically breached by the Maverick Don, that mythologised figure to whom the media seem irresistibly drawn. Rather than a thoughtful intervention, this apparently eccentric academic or writer will toss out a provocative and authoritative pronouncement that appears to fly delightfully in the face of "political correctness".

Such putatively daring truth claims ("Islam is the problem", "Racism is natural", "Men are being emasculated by women") allow for silences to be broken dramatically and temporarily, while closing off the possibility of sustained and knowledgable debate. Pronouncement, outcry, apology - so unfolds the soap opera after which we return to business as usual. Meanwhile truly substantial and necessary scholarship on race and culture, at Cambridge included, simply drops off the radar

Source

Somehow this stupid bint equates opening up topics for discussion with "closing off the possibility of sustained and knowledgable debate". It's only because these topics are taboo that it needs mavericks to raise them! I think Matthew 7:3-5 is again relevant here. She should read it.

The writer is a woman with an Indian name. The name does not sound Muslim but her logic does.

I guess I can unravel her thinking, though. "Sustained and knowledgable debate" is debate that comes to the "right" conclusions -- and she knows what those conclusions are. So anything that upsets her neat little assumptions is disruptive and upsetting and should be STOPPED!

Britain: Censuring of a movie poster exposes elite disdain for the "dumb masses"



We read:

"The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has censured the makers of an Angelina Jolie action movie, Wanted, because the posters advertising the film `glamorised guns'. This willingness of our moral guardians to clamp down on freedom of expression poses a graver threat to the health of society than any imaginary Angelina-inspired gun crime spree.

Wanted is a big-screen version of a comic-book story starring Jolie and James McAvoy. She's a kick-ass assassin, he's a bored office dweeb getting walked all over by everyone. But, as the poster declares: `SIX WEEKS AGO, I WAS JUST LIKE YOU. AND THEN I MET HER. AND MY WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER.' It's your regular `boy meets girl, girl gives boy a gun and several million dollars, violence and adventure ensue' kinda movie.

The posters captured the film pretty well. `One poster showed the profile of the actress Angelina Jolie', notes the ASA. `She was crouched with her elbow resting on her knee and was holding a gun pointing upwards. In the background the actor James McAvoy held a gun in each hand, pointing towards the reader.' Another poster showed a variety of images, including one of Jolie `laid across the bonnet of a car on her back. She was facing the reader and holding a gun, which pointed in the opposite direction.'

Yet for the ASA, these posters were simply too much. In its ruling censuring the film's promoters, the ASA states: `We acknowledged most viewers would understand the posters reflected the content of an action film. However, we considered, that because the ads featured a glamorous actress, action poses, several images of or related to guns and aspirational text, they could be seen to glamorise the use of guns and violence. We concluded [the posters] could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns.'

Source

"Hate speech" from Gov. Palin?

A rumor that Palin called Obama 'Sambo' is spreading even though the "source" is anonymous and unverified. The rumor also contains a slur on all Alaskans. So who are the bigots in that case? Details of the slur:

""So Sambo beat the bitch!" This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama's win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat's primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

"It was kind of disgusting," Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the "lower 48" about life near the North Pole. Then, almost with a sigh, she added, "But that's just Alaska." Racial and ethnic slurs may be "just Alaska" and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin."

The originators of the rumor are two members of Barack of Obama's campaign, Dick and Sharon Price. They are known for planting such slanderous stories about opposition candidates going back for a while now.

EU wants to ban 'sexist' TV commercials



Reality is banned!

"MEPs want TV regulators in the EU to set guidelines which would see the end of anything deemed to portray women as sex objects or reinforce gender stereotypes. This could potentially mean an end to attractive women advertising perfume, housewives in the kitchen or men doing DIY. Such classic adverts as the Diet Coke commercial featuring the bare-chested builder, or Wonderbra's "Hello Boys" featuring model Eva Herzigova would have been banned.

The new rules come in a report by the EU's women's rights committee. Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson urged Britain and other members to use existing equality, sexism and discrimination laws to control advertising. She wants regulatory bodies set up to monitor ads and introduce a "zero-tolerance" policy against "sexist insults or degrading images". Ms Svensson said: "Gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting individuals to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumbed down for both sexes."

Source

There seem to be a lot of people these days who are NOT "restricted to predetermined and artificial roles". So how did that happen? Maybe none of them watch TV!

"Uppity" is a VERY bad word

There are decades of psychological research showing that blacks tend to have very high levels of self-esteem. But say the same thing using the word "uppity" and you are in deep doo-doo.

"Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) created a stir on Thursday when he repeatedly used a racially tinged word when describing Barack Obama. In an interview with Congressional Quarterly, Westmoreland was asked about the comparative speaking styles of Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama. "Honestly, I've never paid that much attention to Michelle Obama. Just what little I've seen of her and Senator Obama is that they're a member of an elitist class ... that thinks that they're uppity," said the Congressman. "'Uppity', you said," inquired the reporter, giving Westmoreland a chance to un-do the comment. "Yeah, uppity," confirmed Westmoreland. CQ posted the audio of the interview here

Source

Note that he did not say that they WERE uppity, just that they thought they were. So he was using the word in a rather different way to the old Southern usage.

Here Come the Christian-Bashers. Leftists attack Gov. Palin's 'Controversial Worldview'



An amusing attempt to equate Obama's America-hating church with the regular Christian gospel. You would have to be an amazing ignoramus to think that the two are the same.

"In an obvious attempt to create a Jeremiah Wright-style scandal for the Republican presidential ticket - and to marginalize conservative Christian values - Huffington Post National Editor Nico Pitney is questioning the religious beliefs of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her former pastor.

A Sept. 2 Huffington Post (HP) article by Pitney and Political Reporter Sam Stein begins with an ominous headline: "Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview." They write, "And if the political storm over Barack Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright is any indication, Palin may face some political fallout over the more controversial teachings of Wasilla Assembly of God."

Pitney and Stein label Palin's worldview "controversial," and quote snippets from Wasilla Senior Pastor Ed Kalnins's sermons that paint him as extreme. Wasilla Assembly of God church member Karissa Nelson told CMI what she thought of the HP story: "It's sad how people twist your words."....

To define Palin's faith, Pitney and Stein quote what they describe as "provocative" and "eyebrow-raising" statements by Wasilla pastor Ed Kalnins. The minister's teachings, however, may not be as controversial as Pitney and Stein believe. The HP writers display a very poor understanding of conservative Protestant theology and language.

For example, Pitney and Stein quote Kalnins saying in 2004, "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person [Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry], I question your salvation. I'm sorry." As they understand the statement, Kalnins "questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven." Their interpretation of Kalnins's remarks conflicts sharply with the evangelical Protestant theology of salvation.

Properly understood, Pastor Kalnins was not saying that God would punish people who voted for Kerry by sending them to hell. Kalnins was saying that a person willing to vote for Kerry probably had not already received salvation.

Evangelical theology teaches that a person is saved based not on how he votes, or any other action, but on whether he places his trust in Jesus's sacrifice to pay the price for his sins. Trust Christ today and you're "saved" today. Therefore, salvation is not so much a future event as a present possession. Once people are "saved," however, they undergo a spiritual transformation that affects the way they think, behave, and vote.

Source

As Leftist commentary goes, "controversial" is probably a rather mild term of abuse for evangelical Christianity. The HuffPo must be losing its mojo. I expected "Ayatollah Palin" at least.

I have read the HuffPo article and the authors clearly do not understand the Calvinist influence in Protestant thinking. Following Ephesians 1:4&5, Calvin taught that God had predestined who would be saved -- and this tends to spill over to a view that most of the things that happen around us are God's will. There is even a careful exposition of the doctrine in Article 17 of the 39 "Articles of Religion" promulgated by the Church of England. If you have a copy of the old Anglican "Book of Common Prayer", you can find it right at the back of the book.

Black superstitions censor book



Australia:

"Publishers of a book that teaches girls to play the didgeridoo will remove a key chapter after Aboriginal claims that it is highly offensive. The Daring Book for Girls, set to be published by HarperCollins in October, attracted criticism from indigenous commentators over a chapter which teaches girls how to play the didgeridoo.

Melbourne academic and Aboriginal education advocate Dr Mark Rose said it was an "extreme faux pas" on the part of HarperCollins as cultural protocols around the instrument include a ban on females touching or playing it. And he warned young girls faced infertility - or worse - if they played an instrument that should only ever be handled by men.

The publisher issued a statement apologising for the inclusion of the chapter.

Source

The didgeridoo is a primitive musical instrument with a very limited expressive range. It is basically a hollowed-out tree stem. And as Andrew Bolt points out, the black "tradition" concerned is hokey anyway.

Harvard cop fights racism charge

Must not speak firmly to blacks:

"Harvard University police officer Theresa McAuliffe has spent a decade teaching self-defense to women and patrolling the Cambridge school's hallowed grounds but now may lose her job because she's been accused of racial profiling. McAuliffe and the other officer, whose name has not been released, are on paid administrative leave but face a disciplinary hearing at which they could be fired. The pair are accused of racial profiling for an Aug. 8 incident in which they were called to a report of a man stealing a bike.

The pair went to a bike rack on campus where they found a black teenager cutting a lock off a bicycle. The officers later learned the bike belonged to the teen and that he was cutting the lock off because his key broke. The teen has since complained that he was verbally abused by the officers and says McAuliffe pointed her gun at him.

A Braintree mother of three, McAuliffe admits she and her colleague used "authoritative voices," but denies pointing her sidearm at the teen. She said she had her hand on her gun and unlocked it from its safety holster in case she had to use it. "I had it pushed forward so if I needed it it was ready," she said. "When you can't see their hands or their face, you don't know what they have. You have to assume they have a weapon."

Source

"Hate" claims about anti-illegal-immigration groups are losing clout

We read:

"McCarthy-like tactics and techniques are being used to discredit and silence average citizens and public officials who lobby on behalf of tighter borders and vigorous law enforcement, Dan Stein, president for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has charged in response to a report targeting his organization.

Although press coverage is still weighted against the proponents of immigration reform fewer reporters are willing to help peddle incendiary and inaccurate allegations leveled individuals and groups who have expressed concern over America's porous borders, Stein said in an interview.

Under the guise of "tolerance" The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) saw fit to label FAIR as a "hate group" in one of its most recent "Intelligence Reports." This quarterly magazine provides law enforcement officials and the public at large with updated information on "extremist activity," according to the organization's web site.

FAIR is accused of promoting "racist conspiracy theories" pertaining to America's Southwest and of accepting financial contributions from sources with racist overtones in the report. The objective here is to control and re-frame the debate over immigration policy by way of a compliant media Stein said in an interview. The "hate group" designation does not have any factual standing and was created "out of thin air" in an effort to derail reform efforts that enjoy widespread public support...

"The SPLC is an extremely dangerous organization because it hides behind the mask of promoting tolerance when in fact it represents nothing but intolerance for political points of view it disagrees with," he said. "What started out as organization that many felt had a worthy goal has metastasized into this demon to justify the accumulation of vast resources. This means it has to create enemies."

Source

Enemies of free speech at the United Nations

We read:

"Support for Israel has never ranked high on the United Nations' agenda. And the upcoming World Conference Against Racism, scheduled for early 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland, presents a valid case. Many observers are concerned that the UN-sponsored event will simply serve as yet another a platform to launch attacks against Israel -- as the previous world anti-racism conference did in Durban, South Africa, seven years ago.

Even by the standards of the organization's traditional antagonism toward the Jewish State, the U.N.'s 2001 Durban gathering marked a low point. To the extent that "racism" was discussed, it was only to condemn Israeli policies. Little wonder that the conference, known as " Durban I," is largely remembered as a U.N.-backed assault on Israel.

Now it's back. And if early evidence is any guide, Durban II, as the Geneva event is already being called, will be a replay of its predecessor. Consider that the chair of the conference's planning committee is Libya, whose longtime leader, Muammar Gadhafi, has recently claimed that the Israeli Mossad aims to assassinate Barack Obama. The vice chair of the conference, meanwhile, is communist Cuba. And the fact that Iran's president has notoriously called for Israel's destruction has not, expectedly, prevented it from playing a key leadership role in the upcoming conference.

Nor does it bode well for Durban II that its agenda will be set by the 56-member Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). In particular, the conference will consider responses to "Islamophobia." In this connection, the OIC's members will consider what they regard as the problematic Western right to free speech. Referring to the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed published in Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten and to "Fitna," Dutch politician Geert Wilders's documentary about Islam, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu recently promised to send "a clear message to the West regarding the red lines that should not be crossed." He went on to warn Western countries to "look seriously into the question of freedom of expression."

Source

A win for legal Weed



We read:

"The brewer who dared market "Legal Weed" has won. Vaune Dillmann took on federal regulators this year when they ordered his Mt. Shasta Brewing Co. in the Northern California town of Weed to stop topping beer bottles with caps bearing the play on words, "Try Legal Weed." Regulators cited federal law prohibiting drug references on alcoholic beverages.

A plain-talking 61-year-old former cop, Dillmann refused to back down, and his high-spirited appeal drew widespread media attention as well as support from beer lovers and civil libertarians far and wide.

Now, facing a storm of bad publicity and the prospect of a drawn-out court battle, authorities at the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau have quietly reversed course. The agency finalized approval of Dillmann's controversial cap Thursday.

Source

Soda Ad Inflames British Consumers and Kids' Advocacy Groups



We read:

"Ads in the UK for children's drink Orangina, which feature scantily dressed anthropomorphised gazelles, giraffes and flamingos, have generated a wave of criticism since it hit British TV screens earlier this month, with viewers, children's charities and equal rights groups up in arms over its sexual - and, some believe, sexist - content. Equal rights groups are unhappy with the way in which female animals are depicted as lap dancers, gyrating around and pandering to the male animals, the UK's Independent reports.

"Orangina is a drink which is mainly aimed at children and young people, but this new advert places the product in a very sexualised [sic] and provocative context" said Claude Knights, director of children's charity Kidscape. "The almost sinister portrayal of animals in an animation style filled with sexual innuendo leads to very mixed and confused messages," she told Independent writer Rachel Shields.

Source

See two more of the ads here. They are pretty weird but kids do tend to be amused by weird things.

Apology for the absence of substance

My cable service is "down" so probably no posts here today.

Hopefully tomorrow will be back to normal.

Does a chat in church erode U.S. principles?

Unless there are two columnists of the same name, Kathleen Parker is normally a conservative commentator. A recent column by her about the Obama/McCain "debate" in pastor Rick Warren's "Saddleback" church seems something of a departure from that however. She seems to think that it violated the Leftist doctrine of the "separation of church and state".

There seems to have been a lot of reaction -- both for and against -- to the column so here's an excerpt:

"At the risk of heresy, let it be said that setting up the two presidential candidates for religious interrogation by an evangelical minister-no matter how beloved-is supremely wrong. It is also un-American....

The winner, of course, was Warren, who has managed to position himself as political arbiter in a nation founded on the separation of church and state. The loser was America...

This is about higher principles that are compromised every time we pretend we're not applying a religious test when we're really applying a religious test.

There have been various objections to her claims but one that does not so far seem to have arisen is what I think is the most basic. There is NO separation of church and State mandated in the U.S. constitution. Try to find it if you think there is.

All that is mandated is: ""Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". When that was written its meaning was perfectly clear. It was a reference to the fact that in England, the Church of England was at the time the "established" church. And that meant that the government paid its priests and supported it as the "right" or official religion.

So it is clear that the U.S. government must not pay clergy or sponsor any particular denomination but that is a long way from a complete separation of church and State. It is certainly clear that there is no prohibition on any clergy getting involved in politics. Clergy can talk themselves blue in the face but that won't make their church "established". So the government cannot support a particular church but a particular church can support the government -- if it chooses to.

"Babymen" a bad word

Prominent cartoonist Mike Manley has referred to adult fans of comic books as "babymen". One of the fans concerned has complained:

"Had it just been Manley reacting to overzealous Batnuts on his blog, I'd just ignore it. But now the word's seeping out in to blogs I read (well, at least Savage Critic and the ISB). So I'm going to compare it to hate speech. Hey, at least I'm transparent about my motives.

But really, I hate words that lump any group of people in to a homogenous blob that becomes a buggy man or punching dummy. I hate fanboy as a epithet, and I hate this. More so babymen because the actual word causes a tiny hot poker to stab me in the brain every time I read it.

But, I dunno, it just seems lazy to use this as the new word to refer to all of the grody, awful, tasteless, total caricatures of superhero comics fans that everyone who reads comics needs to have to feel better about themselves and anger up their blood....."

Source

Adult comic book fans are apparently much derided. "Never seen a woman naked" is one description of them. So I suppose they have some cause for complaint. They can't all be that bad. In Japan, practically all adult men read comics ("Manga").

Watermelon Art at California Fair Said to Be Racist



Art by youths at a juvenile jail angers black couple. Happy black faces are OUT, apparently:

"Colusa County officials are defending their display at the California State Fair after a black couple complained that a caricature of a smiling watermelon seed was racist. The "Waldo Watermelon Seed" drawing was removed this week after the couple said the image evoked negative stereotypes about blacks. The exhibit was intended to celebrate Colusa County's seed-producing crops, which generate $30 million a year.

Margaret Kemp-Williams, deputy counsel for Colusa County, says it was drawn by wards at a county juvenile hall where the population is roughly 40 percent black and 40 percent Hispanic. The wards created a display honoring watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin and tomato seeds. Kemp-Williams says each seed was depicted true to its real color.

Veronica Hannon Thrasher and her husband objected to the "Waldo Watermelon" caricature, which they said looked like "a happy black slave eating watermelon."

Source

I used to eat a lot of watermelon when I was a kid growing up in the tropics. I guess I must be blacker than I thought. It's true that watermelon seeds ARE black so I guess that just eating them could be racist too. You can't be too careful these days.

More details here or here

No free speech for opponents of abortion

Denver police goons again:

"Two teenagers who had been given city permission to write their messages protesting Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's support for abortion on public sidewalks during the Democratic National Convention this week were shoved to the sidewalk, cuffed and arrested for doing just that....

Spokeswoman Danielle Versluys told WND the group had consulted with Denver city officials as well as police prior to the DNC, and had been told that chalk messages on sidewalks would be allowed. Even though the city's deputy chief was in the meeting, that message apparently didn't get forwarded to officers on the street.

"I was peacefully sidewalk chalking when I was forcefully pushed to ground by a police officer from behind," Jayne White, 17, described. "As I was being cuffed on the ground, the police officer pushed his knee into the back of my neck. I was pulled roughly off the ground and taken away. I was given no warning to stop and was completely shocked when I was arrested.'...

"I am horrified and outraged at the treatment of these two girls. Not only were they legally expressing their opinions on the public sidewalk, but they were doing so peacefully and without incident. The officers acted without provocation, and should be ashamed of themselves for terrorizing two young women," Versluys said.

"I am also appalled that the city of Denver boasted of the city's preparation for the convention but clearly neglected to train their police force to respect the First Amendment and the rights of citizens to peacefully demonstrate," she said. "The city of Denver sent a clear message to civic-minded young people this week: the First Amendment doesn't apply here," she said.

Source

See here and here for more examples of Denver police-goons spitting on the 1st Amendment. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper is a Democrat so the fact that his police are pro-Democrat to the point of thuggishness is not much of a surprise. Stalin would understand.

Many will remember that Hickenlooper initially showed negligible reaction to a black singer mangling the national anthem in front of him. Am I questioning his patriotism? You bet!