29 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Here’s more footage of that hectoring dolt of an LSU professor in action. This time, a group of students who said they didn’t believe in AGW were handed a sheet of paper with the following “assignment” on it:
    “Your professed policies have a substantial likelihood of leading to the death of a billion or more people. (A) Estimate that probability that you personally will be killed in an ugly way because of your current decision? (B) What is the probability that any children of yours will die in ugly ways due to your current decision?”
    Note the inappropriate and functionally illiterate use of the question mark in assignment “A”…

  3. Hahaha RE: LSU prof. I would have asked for the necessary variables I’d need to make that estimation. Isn’t the world “dangerously overpopulated” anyways? All of a sudden people dying is a “bad” thing? They need to get their message straight.
    Anyways speaking of horrible deaths people think the UN was responsible for the Haitian cholera outbreak. Haha A fine institution indeed.
    http://lnk.nu/hosted.ap.org/1h7e

  4. Hubris, thy name is federal penitentiary:
    “A self-described animal-rights activist known on the Internet as ‘Lone Wolf’ pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to arson in a fire that destroyed a local sheepskin business. Authorities were led to Bond after an informant told them Bond — who called himself ‘Lone Wolf’ on the Internet and has the word ‘Vegan’ tattooed in his neck in large letters — bragged on an animal rights web site that he ‘torched’ the business.”

  7. National Post, Saturday. A judge named Robert Smith orders Ezra Levant to pay $25,000 to Giacomo Vigna of the Canadian “human rights” Commission, for alleged libel.
    http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Judge+orders+Ezra+Levant/3859577/story.html
    Most of the statements were dismissed by the court as “fair comment”, but on a few counts, judge Smith said that Levant “spoke in reckless disregard of the truth and for an ulterior purpose of denormalizing the Human Rights Commission across Canada which makes his statements malicious in that sense.”
    For the benefit of judge Smith, here’s a list of problems pertaining to the so-called human rights commissions:
    – there is a general lack of due process
    – s.11 of the Charter of Rights applies only to those “charged with an offence”; victims of HRC actions are not considered to fall into this category
    – the right to a fair trial does not apply
    – there is no presumption of innocence
    – complainants get the full resources of the state working for them, while targets of complaints are on their own
    – there is no legal aid for the targets
    – complaints can be launched in multiple jurisdictions, to see what “sticks to the wall”
    – hearsay evidence is allowed
    – documents are frequently not disclosed in a timely manner (if at all) and/or have portions “redacted”
    – no search warrants are needed for investigators
    – investigators sometimes obtain information from police who have obtained warrants
    – truth is not a defence in matters of expression
    – there is no “costs” rule for unsuccessful or frivolous complaints
    – targets of actions cannot file lawsuits over malicious complaints
    – entrapment is used on targets of complaints
    – tribunal overseers sometimes want to act in secret, and have been known to attempt to exclude the target of a complaint from his own proceedings
    – judges are appointed for life and are independent, whereas HRC tribunal heads are not
    – HRC personnel are often radical activists with a personal agenda or vendetta
    – HRC proceedings are considered “remedial” even though there is no difference between a fine from an HRC and one from a real court
    – “human rights” law is considered quasi-constitutional, even though it is made up on the fly by persons with no legal training
    – the list of prohibited types of discrimination includes left-wing favourites like race, gender, and sexual orientation, but omits class and occupation, thus allowing leftists to criticize businessmen, Americans, and “the rich” generally without fearing being dragged before a commission for causing “offence”
    By now it should be clear to all that, by purposely omitting them from s.11 of the Charter of Rights, the HRCs were set up deliberately to enable the state to punish perceived enemies, as it does in totalitarian countries. They also fit in with the “political correctness agenda”, which includes creating racism offences and making the justice system unreliable, as well as using minorities, immigrants, the poor and other allegedly downtrodden as a substitute working class for the purpose of class struggle.
    In the light of the vicious injustices that these kangaroo court “human rights” commissions are routinely responsible for, to accuse advocates of justice who wish to denormalize or otherwise fight them of being “malicious” is utterly disgraceful.

  9. Socialism is collapsing. Again.
    Socialism never dies. It morphs again and again and …… into Hope:
    “The Foreign Secretary said he “hoped”.”
    Meanwhile, Fear, Hope’s little ugly sister reigns.
    …-
    “William Hague calls the future of the euro into question”
    “William Hague raised doubts about the future of the euro yesterday, suggesting for the first time that it was possible the currency could collapse.”
    “The Foreign Secretary said he “hoped” the euro would survive, but added: “Who knows?”
    His comments added weight to already frenzied speculation about the future of the eurozone as the European Union prepared to bail out debt-ridden Ireland.
    As the crisis intensified yesterday, the head of the International Monetary Fund provoked outrage among eurosceptic MPs by saying that a Federal Europe with more sovereign power was the best defence against future problems.”
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/william-hague/8148799/William-Hague-calls-the-future-of-the-euro-into-question.html
    …-
    “The European ‘dream’ has finally collided with reality
    “The drive towards a European superstate has had its flaws exposed at last, says Christopher Booker.”
    “Twelve years ago, I stood on the plinth of Nelson’s Column in the pouring rain, addressing a crowd of 10,000 people. We had marched through central London in the biggest ever demonstration against Britain joining the euro, a course then being daily urged on us by the BBC, with the aid of such Euro-zealots as Michael Heseltine, Chris Patten, Kenneth Clarke and Sir Leon Brittan.
    At the time, Mayor Ken Livingstone was calling for the removal of the two statues of Victorian generals that stand on each side of Trafalgar Square. I therefore jokingly began by suggesting that, if they were to be replaced, this might be with a very small statue of John Major, for negotiating Britain’s opt-out from the euro at Maastricht, and a much larger statue of Sir James Goldsmith. It was the intervention of his Referendum Party in the 1997 election that prodded all the other parties into promising a referendum, thus stopping hopes of Britain’s entry dead.
    It was only when, a few years later, I began work on a comprehensive history of the European “project” that I fully came to see how, for 50 years, it had only ever had one real agenda. As was laid down by its founding genius, Jean Monnet, the sole underlying purpose behind everything it has ever done has been to work stealthily – accreting its powers step by step – towards the creation of an integrated “United States of Europe”, ruled by one supra‑national government.”
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8149000/The-European-dream-has-finally-collided-with-reality.html

  10. Sigh. Hippies.
    “1960s songbird Joan Baez is “resting comfortably” at an undisclosed location after falling 20 feet to the ground from a treehouse—a treehouse she purposely had built without walls because she wanted to sleep among real birds at her Woodside, Calif., home.”
    So more of a “tree-platform”, really.
    http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_16656859?nclick_check=1

  11. Here’s the grabber:
    >>> “She lives in Alberta and often flies to Maui for holidays;”.
    Context here from Flopping Aces:
    “Obama’s Bolsheviks Are Losing
    Obama has made a mess, he might need some old fashioned Conservative toilet paper
    This is an email from an affluent, educated, Liberal female in her thirties, she has an extremely high IQ and a speed reading ability that I have never seen equaled; I know her quite well, I took her camping and fishing and taught her Algebra, Geometry, and mathematics at an age when most kids are still learning their alphabet, she is my daughter. She lives in Alberta and often flies to Maui for holidays; unfortunately, this means going through American TSA sexual fondling. She and her friends have been dedicated Liberals and they rarely agree with me on anything. As a matter of fact, they have considered me a throwback to prehistory, at least until recently. She is now taking a second look at the Myth that is Obama and his Open Society Socialism.
    I am flying tomorrow with my family and am already coming up with sharp retorts to any security person who pats me down inappropriately or treats my child as a threat to national security. Realistically, I know I won’t use them and I will stand in line and not say anything because I just want to be able to get on my plane and leave this extremely cold weather and drink margaritas on a beach. We have traveled with our children a lot. Most of the time it has been alright, but there was the time they took my daughter’s little horse away from her even though she was already upset and crying, to put it through the scanner. After they took her toy away they made her walk through the metal detector by herself, still crying hysterically. She was barely two. When I was pregnant I couldn’t go through the scanners (not that I really want to anyway) and I had to submit to pat downs in every single security line. It is degrading to have someone feel underneath your pregnant breasts to make sure you are not carrying a bomb. The inevitable powerlessness that comes with standing in airport security lines makes me want to scream in rage. I am not a criminal, I don’t want or expect to be treated like one just so that I can get on a plane. And I’m still not convinced that all of these “security” measures actually make a bit of difference. Except to give the TSA absolute control over our lives for the hour+ that we stand in line to wait for them to make sure that our children aren’t carrying explosives in their toys. Or that we don’t have suspect materials in our flip flops.
    I hate all of this, but besides the total loss of dignity, what also bothers me is that I turn into a raving, foaming at the mouth crazy person when I start talking about it. I raise my voice. I don’t like this; I prefer to be civilized.
    All of this for an illusion of security.
    F*ck security.
    You Useful Idiots are throwing away your dreams of a Socialist Open Society by allowing the arrogant Narcissism of Obama destroy any and all gains you have made. People are realizing, that they are surrendering their freedoms to Obama:
    Except to give the TSA absolute control over our lives
    You are now alienating huge segments of once loyal believers, followers, and sycophants. Unless Obama can destroy or neutralize the Constitution in the next two years and consolidate his power and control with these backhanded methods of rewriting Constitutional Law, that force semi-law enforcement types to ignore the Fourth Amendment and conduct illegal searches that deprive Americans deprive Americans of Constitutional Rights and expose individual agents to prosecution for following illegal orders, (assuming we hold them to the same standards as our military) Obama is toast in 2012. Obviously he must go for broke by usurping all the power and control possible, since he is losing support at an unprecedented rate.”
    “(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net…”
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2630456/posts

  12. Here’s the grabber:
    >>> “She lives in Alberta and often flies to Maui for holidays;”.
    Context here from Flopping Aces:
    “Obama’s Bolsheviks Are Losing
    Obama has made a mess, he might need some old fashioned Conservative toilet paper
    This is an email from an affluent, educated, Liberal female in her thirties, she has an extremely high IQ and a speed reading ability that I have never seen equaled; I know her quite well, I took her camping and fishing and taught her Algebra, Geometry, and mathematics at an age when most kids are still learning their alphabet, she is my daughter. She lives in Alberta and often flies to Maui for holidays; unfortunately, this means going through American TSA sexual fondling. She and her friends have been dedicated Liberals and they rarely agree with me on anything. As a matter of fact, they have considered me a throwback to prehistory, at least until recently. She is now taking a second look at the Myth that is Obama and his Open Society Socialism.
    I am flying tomorrow with my family and am already coming up with sharp retorts to any security person who pats me down inappropriately or treats my child as a threat to national security. Realistically, I know I won’t use them and I will stand in line and not say anything because I just want to be able to get on my plane and leave this extremely cold weather and drink margaritas on a beach. We have traveled with our children a lot. Most of the time it has been alright, but there was the time they took my daughter’s little horse away from her even though she was already upset and crying, to put it through the scanner. After they took her toy away they made her walk through the metal detector by herself, still crying hysterically. She was barely two. When I was pregnant I couldn’t go through the scanners (not that I really want to anyway) and I had to submit to pat downs in every single security line. It is degrading to have someone feel underneath your pregnant breasts to make sure you are not carrying a bomb. The inevitable powerlessness that comes with standing in airport security lines makes me want to scream in rage. I am not a criminal, I don’t want or expect to be treated like one just so that I can get on a plane. And I’m still not convinced that all of these “security” measures actually make a bit of difference. Except to give the TSA absolute control over our lives for the hour+ that we stand in line to wait for them to make sure that our children aren’t carrying explosives in their toys. Or that we don’t have suspect materials in our flip flops.
    I hate all of this, but besides the total loss of dignity, what also bothers me is that I turn into a raving, foaming at the mouth crazy person when I start talking about it. I raise my voice. I don’t like this; I prefer to be civilized.
    All of this for an illusion of security.
    F*ck security.
    You Useful Idiots are throwing away your dreams of a Socialist Open Society by allowing the arrogant Narcissism of Obama destroy any and all gains you have made. People are realizing, that they are surrendering their freedoms to Obama:
    Except to give the TSA absolute control over our lives
    You are now alienating huge segments of once loyal believers, followers, and sycophants. Unless Obama can destroy or neutralize the Constitution in the next two years and consolidate his power and control with these backhanded methods of rewriting Constitutional Law, that force semi-law enforcement types to ignore the Fourth Amendment and conduct illegal searches that deprive Americans deprive Americans of Constitutional Rights and expose individual agents to prosecution for following illegal orders, (assuming we hold them to the same standards as our military) Obama is toast in 2012. Obviously he must go for broke by usurping all the power and control possible, since he is losing support at an unprecedented rate.”
    “(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net…”
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2630456/posts

  15. Poor Joan appears to have taken some of her lyrics literally.
    Forever Young
    May God’s blessing keep you always,
    May your wishes always come true,
    May you always do for others
    And let others do for you.
    May you build a ladder to the stars
    And climb on every rung,
    May you stay forever young.
    May you grow up to be righteous,
    May you grow up to be true,
    May you always know the truth
    And see the lights surrounding you.
    May you always be courageous,
    Stand upright and be strong,
    May you stay forever young,
    Forever young, forever young,
    May you stay forever young.
    May your hands always be busy,
    May your feet always be swift,
    May you have a strong foundation
    When the winds of changes shift.
    May your heart always be joyful,
    May your song always be sung,
    May you stay forever young,
    Forever young, forever young,
    May you stay forever young.
    It would seem that 69 year old hippies are not as agile as they once were but I suppose that goes for everyone.

  19. Try this excellent essay on multiculturalism by the Canadian poet David Solway, and boost your vocabulary at the same time: The West and the Guest.
    In the comments there’s a poem by Rudyard Kipling which had a strange and powerful resonance with me after noticing, just yesterday, that at a Vancouver intersection there were, out of about 20 pedestrians, only 2 Caucasians. I’ve lived here for 31 years and found it passing strange that I’d take pointed notice of this while waiting for the light to turn.

  20. Black Mamba, thanks for the bird off her perch alert on Joan Baez. Despite her being a folk legend/icon, I never enjoyed her stuff much because it featured only her soprano, no harmony — the part I always sang in my hippie days.
    She started getting really weird in the ’70s and, seemingly, has continued to dance to a different, flighty, drummer.
    Twenty feet’s a long way to fall: Maybe it’ll knock some sense into her. 😉

  21. Rita
    I stand corrected. Joan did cover the tune though, hence my mistake. Anyways, the lesson here is that old hippies don’t die, they just fall out of the trees.
    As for the link you provided. It certainly is revealing that neither the Guelph councilor or the dipper candidate had read the bill, let alone considered the consequences of implementation.
    Those two need to fall out of the trees soon.

  22. Thanks, Me No Dhimmi, for the link to the article by David Solway: very informative. Amongst the many insightful observations:
    We should not need to be reminded that diversity is a staple of Western life; indeed, it is a source of extraordinary vigor and richness. But immigrant collectives that set themselves apart, that refuse to integrate into the norms and usages of their host population, that reject and denounce the culture that has received them, and that even strive to subvert or destroy the social and political armature in which they are embedded should not be so readily tolerated. As Thomas Sowell warns, the “multicultural dogma … that we are to ‘celebrate’ all cultures, not change them,” and that “any attempt to get them to behave according to the cultural norms of the larger society” must be censured as a form of cultural imperialism,” will see to our eventual disintegration as a coherent and largely peaceable society. The eminent National Post columnist George Jonas concurs: “Multiculturalism’s motto, if it had one, would be ‘from one, many.’” This is plainly not what is meant by “pluralism”; it is more like political promiscuity and social anarchy.
    I often feel the way you do at that Vancouver intersection when I’m on the Toronto subway.

  24. Synchrodox:
    The first version I heard of the song was Baez’ version. It surprised me to later learn that it was Bob’s song. I love it because I believe he composed it when he became a father. Would one expect such tender sentiments from Bob?
    I too was interested to learn that the two objecting to the Senate’s vote on the climate bill had never actually read it. I found it so sensible of Wallin to say that just because it’s a “green” bill, it doesn’t automatically make it a good bill–even if you are that way inclined in your opinions.
    For the uncritical and gullible, “green” anything confers an almost mystical cachet, be it when you’re shopping for toilet paper or trying to write legislation.

  25. Hi batb: You’ve mastered the italics thingy I see. 🙂
    The most powerful sense of alienation I’ve ever felt in Vancouver was last Christmas at the airport waiting for my daughter from NYC who insists on flying Cathay Pacific which arrives at about 2 a.m. At one point I was the ONLY Caucasian within my purview.
    It’s not resentment or anything close to that with me. Just a sense of lostness, rootlessness, a lonliness for “my people” — people of a common heritage: west-civ fans!
    I know many many people from Greater Vancouver who’ve moved inland to the Okanagan, which when I ride there in spring, summer and fall, shocks me with its whiteness. I experienced a similar shock about 20 years ago in Rebecca Cohen theatre in Halifax, where I lived for a year. Eeerie whiteness!
    On a more positive note, while jogging the other day I resolved that I was going to greet all Chinese I met on my jogs. The Chinese here are great citizens but are insular and wary of round-eyes. The greetings invariably startle them!

  27. “what gives?”: The Cancer Industry.
    Monkey see; monkey do.
    “*If envy were one toxic assault on happiness, as it is in Satyricon and The Golden Ass, then mimesis – or, as the guidance counselors say, “peer pressure” – could be another. Aristotle averred in his Poetics that human beings are the most mimetic, or imitative, of animals.”
    …-
    “More allegations of concocted cancer: what gives?”
    “Four Canadians in a single month have now been charged with faking cancer to raise money — raising questions about what kind of person would, in theory, feign having a disease for monetary gain.
    Beneath the monetary motivation, there are personality traits that allow certain people to achieve enjoyment when they cheat and lie, says Dr. Kibeom Lee, a professor of psychology at the University of Calgary.
    On Friday, a Victoria-area woman was accused by police of fraudulently collecting $300,000 to pay for bogus cancer treatments.
    Tina Michele Sammons, 37, told her family and friends she was suffering from brain cancer, police say.
    A day earlier, a Toronto man was also charged with fraud after claiming he had terminal brain cancer.
    Christopher Gordon, 39, was the third Ontario resident to be charged with using false cancer claims to raise money.”
    http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/More+allegations+concocted+cancer+what+gives/3862986/story.html
    …-
    “*A Lesson for Our Time in Three Late-Antique Narratives: Satyricon, The Golden Ass, and Confessions”
    http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4589

  28. Yeah, MND, I’m having great fun with the italics and bolds!!!
    Like you, I’m not resentful, either, just amazed at how quickly Toronto has become, in fact, multicultural in the extreme.
    As I’m aware, however, especially in the schools, that “multiculturalism” is actually a beard/buzzword for no Christianity, no God, no British heritage — or when it is mentioned, we’re the bad guys it does irk me that the politically correct, leftist, socialist powers that be — or were when the Liberal$ were in power and this was exactly their agenda — have used immigration in this way.
    I do notice, as well, that when our national anthem is being sung at the beginning of a school day, very few immigrant children seem to think it necessary to show the respect due to our nation, to the freedoms it has afforded them and their families. That bothers me.
    OTOH, even students whose families have been in Canada for many generations seem ho-hum, who-cares, when O Canada is played. I lay the blame for this on laissez-faire adults who should be enforcing respectful behaviour when our national anthem is being played.

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