What We Really Need Is Democracy

Religion Of Submission 13 Comments

Getting the Muslim Brotherhood wrong;

Genuine political liberals are thin on the ground in Egypt, but they do exist. I know several. Some are my friends. Most of them were wrong about the Brotherhood, too. They were right, of course, when they warned the rest of us that the Brothers would transform Egypt into a theocratic dictatorship, but they were wrong when they estimated how much support the Brotherhood had. Hardly any expected the Islamists to win most of the votes, though that’s exactly what happened.
American liberals made a different mistake. Despite warnings from secular Egyptians and former Islamists, the idea that the Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate and democratic party became an article of faith here in the States, particularly among academics and journalists who should have known better. Even James Clapper–who, as the Director of National Intelligence, really should have known better–said the Muslim Brotherhood is “a largely secular organization.” Surely that ranks among the dumbest things ever said about the organization in all of its 85 years.

Related: Mama Mia, More Sharia

This Is Awkward

Political Animal The Libranos 14 Comments

Sun News;

In yet another shocking twist to the gas plant e-mail saga, Tory MPP Vic Fedeli told the media late Wednesday that gas plant e-mails previously thought blown away by key Liberal staffers have suddenly turned up.
He said he has been informed by Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian that “a lot of records were found” and a “significant number” related to the cancellation of two gas-fired plants in Oakville and Mississauga.
The e-mail records, he added, belonged to Craig McLennan, the former chief of staff to the energy minister, who’d previously told the gas plant committee under oath that he’d deleted all of his e-mails.

The Sound Of Settled Science

Climate Cult 25 Comments

Via Daily Caller;

A recent report commissioned by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reviewed the health benefits of reducing salt intake and the take-home message is that salt, in the quantities consumed by most Americans, is no longer considered a substantial health hazard. What the CDC study reported explicitly is that there is no benefit, and may be a danger, from reducing our salt intake below 1 tsp per day.

Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors

Media 20 Comments

Hollywood actress sun “worshipping” suggestion;

“We’re human beings and the sun is the sun — how can it be bad for you? I think we should all get sun and fresh air. I don’t think anything that is natural can be bad for you — it’s really good to have at least 15 minutes of sun a day.”

Underworked journalist pounces!

We’re not doctors here at the National Post, but we suspected there was something wrong with the Goop mogul’s sun-worshipping suggestion. To back up our suspicions, we asked a few real doctors what they thought about Paltrow’s comments. Here’s what they said… [snip]

Dr. Richard Bendor-Samuel, Cosmetic Surgeon at The Landings Surgical Centre, Halifax;

Fifteen minutes a day of sunlight in the morning or late afternoon is likely okay for most of us.

But let’s not focus on the fact that one of the experts quoted largely agrees with Paltrow. Let’s ask the World Health Organization…

… excessive UVR exposure accounts for only 0.1% of the total global burden of disease in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), according to the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) report The Global Burden of Disease Due to Ultraviolet Radiation. DALYs measure how much a person’s expectancy of healthy life is reduced by premature death or disability caused by disease. Coauthor Robyn Lucas, an epidemiologist at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health in Canberra, Australia, explains that many diseases linked to excessive UVR exposure tend to be relatively benign–apart from malignant melanoma–and occur in older age groups, due mainly to the long lag between exposure and manifestation, the requirement of cumulative exposures, or both. Therefore, when measuring by DALYs, these diseases incur a relatively low disease burden despite their high prevalence.
In contrast, the same WHO report noted that a markedly larger annual disease burden of 3.3 billion DALYs worldwide might result from very low levels of UVR exposure. This burden subsumes major disorders of the musculoskeletal system and possibly an increased risk of various autoimmune diseases and life-threatening cancers.

She may not be a doctor, but she’s a damned sight better Googler.

A Single Child Groomed Is A “Crime”

The Tolerant Left 30 Comments

A million children groomed is “progressivism”;

This faculty of the University of Toronto has been the center of controversy for years. Criticism of practices there has become more intensified since 2010, when an anti-Semitic thesis produced at [Ontario Institute for Studies in Education] was condemned across party lines in the Ontario Legislature.
OISE has yet again become the center of a storm with this weeks news that one of its most senior academics, Professor Ben Levin, was charged by police with a number of offenses related to child pornography.
So far, much of the focus related to Levin’s position at OISE has concerned his role as an advisor to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. The question is an apt one, as Wynne has pledged to impose a curriculum that was withdrawn by her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, after it succumbed to widespread denunciation about its introducing highly sexualized material to children at an inappropriately young age.

More Perfect Union Update

Forward! The "W" Word 26 Comments

Daily Caller;

A division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was deployed to Sanford, Florida in 2012 to provide assistance for anti-George Zimmerman protests, including a rally headlined by activist Al Sharpton, according to newly released documents.
The Community Relations Service (CRS), a unit of DOJ, reported expenses related to its deployment in Sanford to help manage protests between March and April 2012, according to documents obtained by the watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Oh, Frack!

Ethical Energy 15 Comments

The old burning water trick;

Consider a celebrated case in Parker County, Texas. Resident Steven Lipsky had methane in his drinking water. The EPA fastened on the idea that Range Resources had contaminated his well through fracking, and hit the company with an endangerment finding and remediation order. But as Mario Loyola of the Texas Public Policy Foundation recounts, the EPA couldn’t actually defend any theory whereby the fracking had polluted the well.
Slowly, the agency retreated in ignominy. It turned out that the well wasn’t contaminated at all, but contained levels of methane typical in the area and below levels that the federal government considers a threat to health. “Area residents,” Loyola writes, “had found natural gas in their water wells years before any drilling for natural gas. Some water wells were even ‘flared’ for days after drilling, to release dangerous levels of methane. One area subdivision’s water tanks warn ‘Danger: Flammable Gas.’

Reader Tips

Reader Tips 27 Comments

Most people are familiar with tonight’s song via Tiny Tim’s jokey, falsetto novelty version from 1968, but when you hear it sung by Annette Hanshaw in her confidently playful, relaxed, almost conversational voice, backed by a deft little arrangement, it’s actually quite a lovely and….non-grating piece of early popular music. From 1929, here’s Tiptoe Through the Tulips.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.

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