The science settles.
Question from a Canadian soldier
“Should my fellow Canadian soldiers continue to bleed and die in Afghanistan on a mission that not one of our political parties is willing to fight – let alone lose – an election over?”
Hate Speech Law Unconstitutional
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that Section 13, Canada’s much maligned human rights hate speech law, is an unconstitutional violation of the Charter right to free expression because of its penalty provisions.
The decision released this morning by Tribunal chair Athanasios Hadjis appears to strip the Canadian Human Rights Commission of its controversial legal mandate to pursue hate on the Internet, which it has strenuously defended against complaints of censorship.
It also marks the first major failure of Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, an anti-hate law that was conceived in the 1960s to target racist telephone hotlines, then expanded in 2001 to the include the entire Internet, and for the last decade used almost exclusively by one complainant, activist Ottawa lawyer Richard Warman.
[…]
Mr. Hadjis’ decision to reject the law as unconstitutional, in light of its penalty provisions, leaves a central area Canada’s human rights in limbo, and kicks a political hot potato over to the government and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which can appeal the ruling to Federal Court.
Mr. Warman’s case was supported by the CHRC, and various advocacy groups joined the case as intervenors in support of Section 13.
Mr. Hadjis rejected Mr. Warman’s complaints in all but one instance, an article called AIDS Secrets. He found that this posting contravened Section 13(1). But he also found the law itself — with its threat of penalties such as an order to cease the discrimatory messages, or pay fines up to $10,000 — violates Mr. Lemire’s Charter right to freedom of expression, and therefore refused to make any order against him.
“Since a formal declaration of invalidity [of Section 13(1)] is not a remedy available to the Tribunal, I will simply refuse to apply these provisions for the purposes of the complaint against Mr. Lemire and I will not issue any remedial order against him,” Mr. Hadjis wrote.
Looks like Kinsella picked a bad to day to quit apoplexy…
Ruling here.
Reader Tips
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio.
Tonight, for your delectation, here are Samantha Bumgarner and Eva
Davis performing Big Eyed Rabbit in 1924 (2:51).
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
I’ll Take “Because It’s California” For $500, Alex
So how did it come to pass that critical components of both the private and public communications infrastructure for a major metropolitan area all ended up on one hill, surrounded by kindling?
The First American Prime Minister In Waiting
Organizing For America
Is there nothing that Obama can’t do?
Ontario Pit Bull Ban Deemed A Success
Since the law’s enactment in 2005, pit bulls have killed fewer Ontarians than former attorney general Michael Bryant;
“Burrows could not explain why the driver crossed lanes of traffic and drove up onto the curb.”
Precision Voting
He’s Running America Like They Run Their Party
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
March, 2009 – Chicago has yet to recoup the $1.74 million cost of President Obama’s [Novemeber] victory celebration in Grant Park …
September, 2009 – When Cash for Clunkers was first announced, dealers were supposed to be reimbursed within 10 days of a sale. Billion says that hasn’t happened. (More)
Reader Tips
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio. Tonight, for your delectation, here are the Cannonball Adderley Sextet, featuring Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Nat Adderley on cornet, Yusef Lateef on tenor sax, oboe, & flute, Joe Zawinul on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums, performing Jive Samba ¤ in 1963 (8:33).
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
Not Waiting For The Asteroid
In short a New York Times article, an article from The Newspaper of Record, is based entirely on a reporter talking to her chums.
Y2Kyoto: We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans
He’s on the “cusp of a movement”.
“I’ll never recoup the money,” Leblanc says, only a touch of defeat in his voice. “It’s not for nothing they have those hydro dams.”
Undaunted, the Montreal Gazette’s Andrew Halfnight soldiers on…
h/t Fraser in BC
The First American Prime Minister In Waiting
There are other hints, too, that some federal Liberals have become election-averse in recent weeks.
Related: Jay Currie joins Team Kinsella.
Heh.
This Is Your Power Grid On Windoze
ẅĦãŦ ĈΩµЃđ þΦ$§!βſЎ ĢØ ωѓØŋĞ?
(h/t Mike)
Y2Kyoto: We Don’t Need No Stinking Twisty Bulbs
“Government did us in,” says Dwayne Madigan, whose job will terminate when General Electric closes its factory next July.
Madigan makes a product that will soon be illegal to sell in the U.S. – a regular incandescent bulb. Two years ago, his employer, GE, lobbied in favor of the law that will outlaw the bulbs.
Madigan’s colleagues, waiting for their evening shift to begin, all know that GE is replacing the incandescents for now with compact fluorescents bulbs, which GE manufactures in China.
The Regulation of Unintended Consequences
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
Washington Post, 2006 – “The California Horse Racing Board last week passed a motion that may portend a radical change in American racing, one that could change the nature of the horse-betting game. The board declared that all major tracks in the state “must install a synthetic surface or Polytrack by Dec. 31, 2007” or else have their racing licenses revoked. “
Thoroughbred Times, 2009 – “The report on the Post-Mortem Program at the University of California-Davis for the calendar year 2008 formally documents for the first time more hind-end catastrophic injuries among Thoroughbred racing on synthetic surfaces when compared with those racing on dirt.”
Reader Tips
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite
Radio. Tonight, for your delectation, here is Vladimir Horowitz
performing Joseph Haydn‘s Piano Sonata in E♭ (8:12).
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
What Happens In Vegas … Hits The Drudge Report
I think I’m going to sign up for the Las Vegas Review-Journal;
This newspaper traces its roots to before Las Vegas was Las Vegas.
We’ve seen cattle ranches give way to railroads. We chronicled the construction of Hoover Dam. We reported on the first day of legalized gambling. The first hospital. The first school. The first church. We survived the mob, Howard Hughes, the Great Depression, several recessions, two world wars, dozens of news competitors and any number of two-bit politicians who couldn’t stand scrutiny, much less criticism.
We’re still here doing what we do for the people of Las Vegas and Nevada. So, let me assure you, if we weathered all of that, we can damn sure outlast the bully threats of Sen. Harry Reid.
h/t Joyce
Y2Kyoto: I Smell A Change In The AGW Narrative
Remember the good old days when they meant the same thing?
The story of these seemingly anomalous glaciers underscores the important distinction between the terms “climate change” and “global warming.”