Must not dress like a Red Indian?

There is an old proverb:  "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."  So imitating American Indians should be a compliment to them and their way of life.  I have read a lot on the subject but still have no idea why Leftists  consider it an insult.  I must be very thick



Charlotte Casiraghi has become the latest public figure to spark anger for wearing a Native American costume.

The Monaco royal, 26, who chose the ensemble to participate in the Gucci-sponsored Paris Masters International Jumping Competition this weekend, was branded 'ignorant' and 'racist' by Tumblr users, many of whom appeared to be royal fans, judging by their usernames.

Royalwatcher wrote on the site: 'I don’t know who told her it was cute to dress in traditonal [sic] clothing of Native American but gurlll, I’m judging you and not in the good way.'

Another, named Prin-ses-ka-ro-leen, added: 'Dear Charlotte Casiraghi, American Indians still endure racism, ignorance and abuse on a regular basis simply because they are Native. You displayed terribly poor judgment in your choice of "outfit."'

'Other riders dressed up as Roman warriors, donkeys, angels, and Flintstones - you know, costumes - while Casiraghi opted for an outfit that has been publicly denounced as racist time and time again,' reporter Hilary George-Parkin wrote.

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If you are pretty and a member of European Royalty I guess that the neuroses of the American Left don't really matter to you

Australian Leftist government fights internet regulation as being a threat to free speech

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy arrives in Dubai on Monday to lobby against proposed changes to internet regulation that web giants such as Google warn "could permit governments to censor legitimate speech – or even cut off internet access altogether".

From December 3-14 representatives of 193 governments and other telecommunications stakeholders will gather in Dubai for the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) to update global telecom rules.

Last updated 24 years ago in Melbourne, the treaty sets out regulations on how international voice, data and video traffic is handled. US officials, European Parliament, internet companies and activists have expressed concern at proposals from some countries including Russia and China that seek to extend the regulations to cover the internet.

Now Senator Conroy, who will lead the Australian delegation, has entered the fray, saying “Australia does not believe a case has been made for change”.

Senator Conroy believes the existing multi-stakeholder regulatory model administered by ICANN is “essential for ensuring that the internet remains a central point for innovation and a driver of economic growth”. He said he would formally meet the heads of other delegations in Dubai and hold bilateral meetings with a range of countries to seek their support for Australia's position.

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In some ways Australian Leftists are to the Right of the GOP. They budget for a SURPLUS, for instance -- spending LESS than they raise in taxes

No freedom to chime in Britain

Westminster chimes do tend to distract people who are not used to them but you get used to them pretty quickly and hardly notice them after that

A church bell which was silenced for the first time in a century following a complaint by village newcomers will continue to chime after a threat of legal action was lifted.

The old bell, which survived two world wars, had been marking the passing of each quarter of an hour in the quaint 15th Century All Saints Church since being installed 100 years ago.

But stunned clergy were served with a council 'noise abatement notice' - prohibiting the bell chiming between 11pm and 7am after a complaint from new residents.

This was issued after village newcomers Jonathan Apps and Tina Hallett complained to North Somerset Council that the chimes kept them awake at night.

All Saints Church in Wrington, north Somerset, was forced to silence the clock chimes completely, as the mechanism could not be turned off just at night.

Residents in the picturesque village were left furious at the decision, saying they relied on the chimes to tell the time as the church does not have a clock face.

Mr Apps and Ms Hallett - who live opposite the church - withdrew their complaint and stated that they did not wish to pursue the abatement notice.  But the notice had already been issued - meaning that the church was forced to comply with it or appeal against it through the courts.

Today, a spokesman for North Somerset Council said an agreement had been reached with the Parochial Church Council to limit the church to chiming hourly overnight.

The All Saints' tower was influenced by the design of the Victoria Tower at the Houses of Parliament, which stands opposite the most famous chiming clock in the world - Big Ben.

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OK: "Freedom to chime" is not serious.  But pole dancing has been held as protected speech in the USA -- so if this had happened in America, there might have been a case.

Mocking the First Amendment in Ohio

30 days in jail for play-acting?

Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending this idiot. I’m simply defending his constitutional right to express himself as an idiot.

He and his 9-year-old son were filmed in front of a school bus imitating the limping gait of a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. The two reportedly made a habit of imitating the girl’s limp at the school bus stop in full view of she and her classmates.

Yes, they were cruelly mocking her.  Apparently there is some sort of ongoing feud between the two families involving their children. The disabled girl’s family members it seems were in the habit of calling the man’s 9-year-old son, who suffers from seizures and ADHD, a ‘retard.’

The man, William Bailey, 43, pleaded no contest to reduced misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and aggravated menacing at a municipal court in Canton, Ohio. The judge gave the man the maximum sentence for his “crime.” His son won’t face any charges because of his young age and because prosecutors thought he was acting under the influence of his father.

Am I missing something here? Imitating someone’s limp is disorderly conduct? Mockery of this sort is aggravated menacing? If that is so, surely the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live are going to have to turn themselves in.

Limping is not a crime. Imitating a limp is not a crime. This guy was not thrown in jail for limping. He was jailed for his thoughts! He was convicted for expressing his mind! He was persecuted for exercising his rights of free speech!

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Must not disrespect Obama

If the mockery had been directed at GWB, it would have been just fine

A US firefighter has been sacked for putting toilet paper imprinted with President Barack Obama's face in a fire station bathroom

It was the third time Clint Pierce had posted political paraphernalia on city property and a violation of a direct order to cease and desist from such behaviour, according to city records.  He had until 5pm on Friday to turn in his badge.

"It was clearly a case of insubordination," said Sandra King, a spokeswoman for the city of Pompano Beach.  "He had a similar situation of posting political messages on city property, and he was given a free pass at that time and told to cease and desist, and he did it again and really exacerbated the situation."

Pierce, 50, had been with the department since November 1993. He could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The incident exhibited "tasteless and disrespectful treatment" of the President, "caused significant divisiveness within the department and community", and led to "a community outcry" and "negative national news coverage", fire chief Harry  Small wrote in a November 29 order calling for Pierce's termination.

After investigating the toilet paper stunt, Small "found no evidence to indicate that Pierce's actions were racially motivated, but rather they were politically motivated".

But black activists in the city saw it differently, appearing in force at Tuesday's City Commission meeting to express dismay at what they saw as Pierce's disrespectful, offensive and racist actions, and to call for his dismissal.

"If you don't know what it means, I'm going to break it down to you very gently and very nice," Carlene Duncan said.  "It means 'we will wipe our butt with your face,' and that's not very nice. That's very disrespectful to our president.  [How awful!  Were they respectful towards GWB?]

The toilet paper appeared in a Pompano Beach Fire Station restroom on October 19 and Pierce admitted putting it there as a "gag", city records show.

He had earlier placed a bumper sticker that "did not cast the President in a positive light" [Shocking!] on his locker and had a coffee mug with a picture of the President portrayed as a clown.

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First Amendment Scores Major Victory in Seattle

Attempt to control phone directories rejected

The courts reason that commercial speech can be regulated more than noncommercial speech because government has an interest in preventing commercial harm. That’s why advertisers are not allowed to make false product claims, for example.

The Seattle ordinance, which the court overturned in mid-October, banned the distribution of “Yellow Pages phone books” in the city unless the publishers satisfied certain rules. First, the publisher had to obtain a special license.

Second, the publisher was required to pay the city 14 cents for each Yellow Pages phone book distributed within Seattle’s jurisdiction.

Finally, publishers had to comply with an opt-out registry, permitting residents to decline receipt of future phone books from the publisher.

Seattle defended its regulation by characterizing the phone books as pure commercial speech with little value to society. (Tell that to the homeowner who needs a 24-hour plumber.) Because of the high advertising content in such directories, the city asserted that the books were only entitled to a modicum of protection.

The Ninth Circuit rejected Seattle’s commercial-speech argument, concluding that phone books were not that much different than newspapers and other publications that attempt to create positive cash flow from publishing.

“The First Amendment does not make protection contingent on the perceived value of certain speech,” the court wrote, reaffirming that speech intertwined with commercial activity, such as advertising, enjoys fundamental constitutional protections.

Fortunately, the court could not find “a principled reason to treat telephone directories differently from newspapers, magazines, television programs, radio shows, and similar media that does not turn on an evaluation of their contents.”

The Ninth Circuit should be applauded for rejecting Seattle’s program of speech restrictions. If First Amendment guarantees are not applied fairly and uniformly, governments could too easily characterize unfavorable speech as “commercial” and subject it to myriad restrictions.

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'Provocative' Playboy truck advert banned in Britain


Pretty mild stuff, it seems to me -- JR

Few people are likely to be surprised by Playboy using provocative images in its advertising.

But when those images are plastered across the side of a truck  that is then parked outside hotels frequented by the elderly, it is likely to raise a few eyebrows.

The van, which appeared in the picturesque seaside town of Ilfracombe in Devon in May, featured pictures of semi-naked women in seductive poses to advertise Playboy TV Chat.

It was deliberately stationed outside The Imperial and The Osborne hotel as, the channel said, most of its calls came from North Devon and many were from elderly people.

Playboy was, however, deemed to have overstepped the mark by the advertising watchdog, which branded the advert sexually provocative and irresponsible and banned it from appearing in public.

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Racist chants at English soccer match

Tottenham Hotspurs is a largely Jewish London football club who sometimes refer to themselves as "Yids".  In sport however political correctness often gets forgotten and they do come in for racist abuse

And in Italy recently there was more than abuse.  A group of Tottenham fans were physically attacked by thugs supporting a rival Italian football club:  Lazio

But in Britain it was just hot air

The bile-spewing West Ham fans who baited their Tottenham Hotspur rivals because some of their number had been stabbed by a Nazi mob could take a couple of lessons in history.

What the West Ham fans were chanting:

'Viva Lazio'

'Adolf Hitler, he's coming for you'

'Can we stab you every week?'

Ashley Mills, a 25-year-old Tottenham fan, was the most severely injured of 10 compatriots who were subject to an unprovoked act of violence while drinking in the Drunken Ship pub in Campo de Fiori, Rome, ahead of his club's Europa League tie with Lazio.

The Ultras – renowned hooligans in the Eternal City – had come 50 strong to make an anti-Semitic attack against Tottenham, with their traditionally Jewish heritage.

Two men, both fans of Lazio's neighbouring club Roma, were arrested and charged.

In celebration of the foregoing hate-crime, West Ham fans, who were said to number hundreds rather than dozens yesterday, chanted 'Viva Lazio'.

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Student government at UCB criticizes fraternity Halloween decorations



From early this month:  A "Zombie" looked too much like a lynching

Public outcry over the perceived racially insensitive nature of a campus fraternity’s Halloween decoration has prompted efforts in the ASUC Senate to increase awareness of racial and cultural issues on campus.

The senate unanimously passed a bill at its meeting Wednesday evening that recognizes “the history and presence of lynching and anti-black sentiment” in the United States, California and UC Berkeley and urges the ASUC to implement “mandatory racial sensitivity curriculum” for campus Greek organizations. The bill was drafted in response to a stuffed zombie hung Tuesday from a third-story window of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity house as a part of an annual haunted house philanthropy event.

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Having fun can be a problem these days.  Doing anything unusual may cause injured feelings and we can't have that!

A triumph for Saints Cyril and Methodius -- to Have Halos and Crosses Restored

France and Greece objected to the Slovakian coinage!

After strong objections by the Catholic Church which were taken up in the national parliament of Slovakia by the Christian Democratic Movement, Slovak Democratic and Christian Union and some representatives of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities  caucus to the elimination of halos from the heads of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and the removal of the image of the cross from the saints’ vestments, the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Slovakia has announced that the halos and crosses will be restored on the 2-Euro coins scheduled to be released in 2013 to commemorate the 1150th Anniversary of the Mission of Cyril and Methodius to the Slavs.

Slovak Spectator reported, however, that restoring those halos might preclude the Slovakian €2 coin being released throughout the European Union.

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Slovakia, Cyril and Methodius may seem of little account to us but all are combatants in the international Leftist war on Christmas and Christianity. 

Cyril and Methodius are in fact big wheels in European History.  They were Byzantine Greek missionaries who brought Christianity to the Slavs.  The Russian alphabet (Cyrillic) is named after Cyril as he invented the first version of it.  So those old guys are worth some honor.

Slovakia today is a  high-income   advanced economy of 5 million people

Devout Kansas Town Forced to Remove Cross‏ by Leftist bullies from outside

A town in central Kansas that was founded more than 100 years ago by immigrants escaping religious persecution — is once again facing religious persecution.

The tiny town of Buhler is being forced to remove a religious cross from its town seal after a group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained that the symbol violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The group said the cross indicated government endorsement of Christianity. The group also threatened to sue unless a large billboard featuring the cross was removed from a city park.

Mayor Daniel Friesen told Fox News that concerns over the lawsuit were the deciding factor in removing the cross and redesigning the seal.

“If we would have been sued, we would likely lose,” he said. “It’s not an issue of appeasing this fringe group. It’s a matter of protecting the community of Buhler from this organization. We’ve got to take the high road.”

The mayor said the town seal was the result of a competition held in 1988 to mark Buhler’s centennial. The town of 1,350 people was founded by Mennonite immigrants who were seeking refuge from religious persecution.

The irony is not lost on the mayor.  “It’s a faith-based community — always has been,” he said. “The community has never pushed (their faith) on anybody else – but they felt the cross was a good representation.”

Many local residents expressed their frustration and their disappointment on the town’s Facebook page.  “It really saddens me that the minority has finally bullied their way into Buhler,” one resident wrote. “My husband and I chose Buhler when moving from Kansas City with a job transfer because of that sign in the park and the fact that it did have a cross on it because it showed us we were moving into a strong Christian community.”

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Must not mention that Obama is brown?

A top Israeli military spokesman has been branded 'racist' after posting a picture to Facebook of his face covered in mud alongside the caption: 'Obama style.'

The image was uploaded on September 29 by Lt. Sacha Dratwa - who, as the social media chief for the Israel Defence Forces, probably should have been more tuned in to the power of Facebook.

He has since came under a barrage of abuse for the picture - which appears to show him swimming in the Dead Sea - and has been forced to deny that he is racist.

He responded to a Twitter user accusing him of racism, saying: 'I'm not a racist, please stop [spreading] lies about me', ABC News reported.

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He got his face smeared with mud while swimming and that made him think he looked like Emptyhead.  How awful!

RI: Governor pulls plug on tree lighting

"Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has pulled the plug on the state’s annual tree lighting ceremony one year after he created a yuletide controversy by changing its name to a 'holiday' tree.

The governor’s spokeswoman did not give a reason for the decision. But last year his office was flooded with thousands of telephone calls protesting the name change. Many citizens accused the Independent governor of trying to secularize Christmas. At the time, Chafee said the name change was meant to honor the state’s origin as a sanctuary of religious tolerance."

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It's "tolerant" to censor Christmas???

Must not describe Islam accurately in Canada?

A Canadian Islamic organization is accusing a Toronto-area Jewish day school of using a textbook that vilifies Muslims.

In a Nov. 19 letter to Jewish groups, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-CAN, charges that a textbook used at the Joe Dwek Ohr HaEmet Sephardic School employs "inflammatory and hateful terms in describing Muslims."

CAIR-CAN alleges the book, "2000 Years of Jewish History," describes Muslims as "rabid fanatics" with "savage beginnings."

"The entire chapter devoted to Islam presents a pernicious and extreme portrayal of Muslims and the Islamic faith. The material further denigrates the Prophet Muhammad as a 'rabid Jew-hater,' and falsely portrays Islam as inherently anti-Semitic and devoted to hating Jews," the group said in its letter to the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center For Holocaust Studies and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA.

It said the text is used in grade 7 and 8 girls' classes at the Orthodox Jewish day school and "leaves impressionable young Jewish readers with a sense of suspicion and even intolerance towards their fellow Canadians."

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Particularly in Surah 9, the Koran is full of hatred towards non-Muslims and exhortations to kill or oppress them  -- so the Jewish school is simply describing Islam accurately.  I have a copy of the "Glorious Koran" on my desk and have checked it.

It could be that Muslims disown that part of the Koran, just as modern Jews disown the harsher commandments of Leviticus, but any Muslim who did that would get his head chopped off.  The Koran is perfect, according to Islamic doctrine.  Muslims can't stand criticism of any kind.

Vassar still self-stimulating over graffiti

The incidents (in early October) are too good an excuse for displays of self-righteousness to let them go

As most members of the Vassar community are well aware, in October of this year, several incidents of hateful graffiti were discovered in bathroom stalls and dormitories on campus.

These incidents gave rise to a variety of responses from the college designed to both assess the impact on the Vassar community and provide resources for those who were affected to express their feelings and seek support.

Such measures included the creation of the moderated SpeakUpVC blog, and hosting a community discussion on the topic.
Assistant Director for Campus Life and LGBTQ Programs Judy Jarvis said in an emailed statement, “It’s hard to measure the effectiveness of the blog and window display, but I felt that the combination of responses was important because it allowed students to engage in whatever ways they felt most comfortable.”

While some community members have been inclined to dismiss the incidents as the work of hoodlums with bad senses of humor looking to get a rise out the students, Jarvis argues that these incidents are examples of hate speech, and are symptomatic of larger problems in the Vassar community, and society at large.

VSA President Jason Rubin ’13 applauded the all-campus initiatives addressing the graffiti, as well as other measures by student groups, citing the House discussion in Jewett.  Rubin also said that the incidents were symptomatic of larger problems with the Vassar community, and that further action needed to be taken.

While the graffiti itself is long gone, the marks which it has made upon the ways in which the Vassar community views and comports itself will remain longstanding.

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Must not say that homosexual "marriage" is wrong

After her daughter's eighth grade math teacher wore an anti-gay marriage pin to school, Cynthia Deford, a gay parent in Port Angeles, Washington, started an online campaign to ban teachers from promoting political causes in the classroom.

The Steven's Middle School teacher, who has remained unnamed, wore a button to class in the days before the Nov. 6 election that stated “No on 74: one man + one woman = marriage," according to Deford. The political message refers to Washington's Referendum 74, which legalized gay marriage in the state, passing with 52 percent of the vote.

Although Port Angeles School District Superintendent Jane Pryne told the Peninsula Daily News that the issue has been addressed, and the school district already has policy regarding politics in the classroom in place, Deford wants more to be done; she is calling for an official apology and sensitivity training for teachers.

"It just shocked me that it happened here," Deford told the Peninsula Daily News.

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Leftist teachers bring their political views into the class all the time but woe betide you if you express Biblical views there

Must not criticize bottles????

An advert for a SodaStream machine due to air in a prime slot on ITV was pulled at the last minute - because it encouraged viewers to shun bottled soft drinks to help save the environment.

The commercial for the soda maker was to be screened during a break in last night's episode of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, but a watchdog decided it could not be aired because it was unfairly critical of the soft drinks industry.

SodaStream UK branded the decision to pull its ad - which shows familiar looking plastic bottles of fizzy drinks exploding as people hit the button on the machine - 'absurd'.

The advert sees various people using a SodaStream machine to create their own carbonated drinks.

The firm said it had hoped to deliver a 'powerful message' about waste and sustainability with its new campaign, which ends with the line: 'With SodaStream, you can save 2,000 bottles per year'.

But just before the campaign was due to hit screens, Clearcast, the organisation that pre-approves UK TV advertising, decided the commercial was unsuitable.

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Drunken Welshman who sang anti-English songs on bus after wedding found guilty of racial abuse

This is consistent with British law but it's rather pathetic that songs require the attention of the police and the courts<

A drunken Welsh wedding guest who insulted the English was convicted of racism today.  Phillip Pritchard, 32, was on a coach home from a smart country wedding in Wales when he started singing anti-English songs.

He began by singing rugby songs but then segued into anti-English chants of his own design.

Another Welshman on the coach objected to Pritchard’s taunts and a 'heated row' erupted, forcing the coach driver to pull over into a lay-by and call police.

Pritchard, of Swansea, admitted using racially aggravated threatening, insulting, abusive words or behaviour.

Lucinda Nicholls, defending, said: 'He was one of many guests at a wedding function and it appears they were all intoxicated to some extent.  'There was some banter between some English people and Mr Pritchard, who is Welsh.  'Rugby songs were chanted and he got carried away.

'Just to add to the unusualness of the situation, the complainant in the matter is Welsh, not English, but felt other people on the bus would take offence.'

Pritchard was given a 12-month conditional discharge with costs of £150 by Brecon magistrates.

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"Insensitve" to suggest that the poor might not have much to eat

From my observations as a former boarding-house owner, the only poor people who do not have enough to eat are the ones who first spend up on "essentials" like beer and cigarettes

As record numbers of Americans spend Thanksgiving on food stamps, one Fox news presenter has offered some advice - treat the experience as a great way to lose those extra pounds.

TV host Andrea Tantaros compared food stamps - which provide an average monthly budget of $133 - to being on a diet.

Ms Tantaros was asked by co-host Stuart Varney, during Wednesday's broadcast of The Five on Fox Business, if she could live on that amount.

She told Fox viewers: 'I should try it because do you know how fabulous I’d look?  'I’d be so skinny. I mean, the camera adds ten pounds, it really does.'

Social media lit up with thousands of outraged responses following Ms Tantaros' off-hand remarks.

One tweet from @imthepain29 read: 'She can lose lbs but she can't lose Ugly.'

Another tweeted at the presenter said: 'Lucky you can diet by choice, not poverty.'

She later highlighted a Department of Agriculture radio advert that had compared food stamps to a healthy eating plan.

The 33-year-old later added: 'Food stamps were sold as a fitness plan to "look great" by our liberal, dense government - remember?

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"Negro" is wrong in Sweden too
 
A local Green Party politician from central Sweden kicked up controversy for singing a song about a "negro village" in Africa during a recent children's charity fundraiser.

The incident took place on Sunday when Rune Tessin, a Green Party member of the local council in Åtvidaberg, took the stage at an event to raise money for "Min Stora Dag" ('My Big Day'), a charity which helps sick children fulfill their dreams.

One of the songs chosen by the 71-year-old Tessin featured lyrics about a "negro village" (negerby) down in Africa.

Following the event a video of the Green Party politician's crooning appeared on YouTube, much to the dismay of party colleagues.  "It makes me sad, disappointed, and angry," Bror-Tommy Sturk, Green Party chair for Östergötland County, told Sveriges Radio (SR).  "This isn't how Green Party members express themselves. I don't think anyone should express themselves in this way."

But Tessin defended his decision to sing the "negro village" tune and had a hard time understanding why his performance had ruffled feathers.

Tessin admitted that the word "negro" might be considered offensive in the United States because there are "more stereotypes attached to the word and it's more sensitive"

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It's actually the scientific term for sub-Saharan Africans,  though academics these days usually say "sub-Saharan Africans" to be on the safe side.  Why use one word when three will do?