Hell hath no fury

Uncategorized 65 Comments

In an article in the WSJ titled “Palinoia, the Destroyer”, James Taranto notes that the “unhinged hatred of Palin comes mostly from women,” and quotes a 30-something New York Liberal named Jessica Faller. Excerpt:

“(Palin’s) sex appeal might not have been such an issue if her demeanor on the campaign trail had been more, well, conservative. But here is this comely woman, in a curvy red suit, giving ‘shout-outs’ during the debate with Joe Biden, giving controversial interviews without apology, basically driving in there, parking the car, and walking in like she owned the place.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But she couldn’t have pulled it off if she were a gray mouse in a pantsuit, and because the devil in the red dress wasn’t orating like a professor, it roused an unquenchable forest fire of rage and loathing in the breasts of many women, perhaps of the toiling gray mouse variety, who projected onto her their own career resentments and personal frustrations.”

“I am amazed at how people still abhor her. I personally do not. I don’t feel she would be a good choice to run this country, but she does not deserve the horrific treatment she gets. I can tell you, being privy to the endless, incendiary rants this past week about her, coming from hordes of liberal women–age demo 25 to 45–they rip her to pieces, they blame her for everything, and the jealousy/resentment factor is so clear and primal. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Taranto:
“We’d say this goes beyond mere jealousy. For many liberal women, Palin threatens their sexual identity, which is bound up in their politics in a way that it is not for any other group (possibly excepting gays, though that is unrelated to today’s topic).”
The whole thing here.

Amerika psycho?

The Urban Bigot 54 Comments

Publius, in one of the best posts I’ve seen for a while, eviscerates the Canadian punditocracy :

Damn Yankees: The Tucson Shootings and Anti-Americanism
When Gabrielle Giffords was shot, the American Left promptly blamed the American Right. The American Right returned the compliment by fingering the gunman as a Left-wing loner. So far, so predictable. The American political and media markets are highly competitive. When a political figure is shot, there is an almost instinctive response to blame the proponents of political Brand Y, since no sensible adherent to Brand X would ever do something so crazy. We see the enemy where we want to see him.
For much of the Canadian MSM, especially in its more Leftish precincts, the culprit was clear: It was America. Not a particular American. Not some group of Americans. It was Uncle Sam himself taking shots at Congresswoman Giffords. The evil that is the United States of America was just expressing itself. Think I’m exaggerating? Here’s Warren Kinsella:

Why do these things happen? Because, in some ways, America’s heart is sick, too. Because – unlike up here – Americans make guns far more available than they should. And they make guns more readily available to sick young men such as Loughner.
That, mostly, is why these things keep happening.

Let’s re-read that quote above, and replace the word America with Nigeria and American with Nigerian. The statement is much more accurate in describing an unstable third-world hell hole like Nigeria, than the United States of America. Most of the world is far, far more violent than the United States. Is most of the world sick too?
American murder rates are conspicuous higher than those of most advanced western liberal democracies. The bulk of these “excess” murders occur not among gun toting rednecks, but in urban ghettoes during drug related turf wars. The typical American, who is not a resident of a housing project, or involved in the hard drug trade, is about as safe as any Canadian. America’s blighted inner cities are about as indicative of America, as Canada’s aboriginal reserves are indicative of this country…
Americans are “hostile to opposing viewpoints?” Ever tried questioning the value of Medicare at a Toronto cocktail party? Or fourth-year humanities seminar? Or over a water cooler? It’s been a generation since Canada has any serious public debate on abortion. Who’s afraid of opposing viewpoints?..
The obsession with registration and control by the Left, on both sides of the 49th, manifests both a vast ambition and dangerous naivety. Rather than confront an uncertain world, – where illness, unemployment and all manner of injustice lurk – with a sober eye and cautious attitude, the Left calls for the abolition of uncertainty. Such a thing is impossible…

Read the whole damn thing, please.

Can ‘None of the Above’ Be Added to a Ballot?

Political Animal 40 Comments

The past decade of relative stability in BC Politics appears to be returning to old form: corruption & never ending scandals.
The Liberals: Former solicitor general Kash Heed is alleged to have improperly used $6,000 in public funds to pay campaign workers. More here from Kim Bolan.
The NDP: Leadership candidate Adrian Dix is accused of violating party membership rules, with application forms entering in one box and money coming in another.
CKNW’s Gord MacDonald & Sean Leslie discuss the latest.

Y2Kyoto: Zombie Gas 2

More Money Than Brains 20 Comments

Previously on SDA about small dead animals in a gravel pit. Now is the Time at SDA When We Juxtapose.
DeSmogBlog 19Jan11:

It also seems reasonable that when a potential breach is identified, Cenovus and the PTRC would rush in the troops to actually do research on the ground, rather than take a quick look at the report and dismiss its lack of evidence out of hand.

DeSmogBlog 20Jan10:

Sure, that’s slightly embarrassing. But it isn’t grounds to declare the entire library of climate science a fraud. The IPCC’s findings have been validated and substantiated by assessments conducted by leading scientific institutions the world over.

Bonus: Petroleum Research Technology Centre response (PDF, 8pp)

In summary, there is no substantiated evidence in the Petro‐Find report to support their claim that “the source of the high concentrations of CO2 in soils of the Kerr property is clearly the anthropogenic CO2 injected into the Weyburn reservoir.” The phenomena observed at the Kerr property can be explained by near surface processes including microbial generation of soil CO2 and methane.

Course, a finding like that breaks a main tenet of the enviro-whacko’s faith; the Sin of the Petro-Dollar.

Why the Left Hate Sarah Palin – Part 2

The Tolerant Left 89 Comments

This earlier post generated a lot of interesting discussion about the venomous hatred so many on the Left feel towards Sarah Palin. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with not liking her or not supporting her running for POTUS one day, but what’s occurring in the hearts & minds of many Leftists is much, much more than mere dislike.
In the earlier piece, Evan Sayet explained his theory about the hatred. Now “Robin of Berkeley”, a self-proclaimed recovered liberal, gives her take, very much from a female perspective. It’s a fascinating read.
h/t ‘lookout’
Update: Victor Davis Hanson shares his thoughts.   h/t ‘ET’

The fatwa in Ottawa

Sleeping With The Enemy 26 Comments

It certainly looks like CSIS Director Dick Fadden was bang on about foreign influence in Canada. The Iranian embassy in Ottawa provides a prime example and I’ll wager the intelligence service prompted the threats mentioned below. Terry Glavin tells the story, which is still developing (some links added):

The National Library capitulates to Iran’s bullies
When federal Cabinet Minister James Moore intervened Tuesday to protest the cancelled screening of the film Iranium at the National Library and Archives in Ottawa [now officially Library and Archives Canada; under the Liberals the word “national” was removed from several federal institutions, e.g the National Museum of Science and Technology, in order to avoid giving any possible offense to the Québécois I am sure], he said: “I am disappointed that Library & Archives Canada chose not to show the film tonight due to threats of violence. . . The Iranian Embassy will not dictate to the Government of Canada which films will or will not be shown in Canada.”
But the screening ended up cancelled anyway after a “suspicious package” shut down the Library. Ottawa police and a haz-mat team showed up late in the afternoon and the staff was sent home. In another version of events, most employees were already gone when suspicious letters were dropped off at the building, on Wellington Street, by a man who hurried away.
Altogether it’s been a busy couple of days for my pal Fred Litwin, who runs Ottawa’s Free-Thinking Film Society, the host of the event. Fred’s been keeping me posted – I’m a director of the society (and no, I’m neither “libertarian” nor “conservative”). Only two months ago I joined some Iranian comrades at the National Library to give a talk at a Film Society screening of another film about Iranian despotism, The Stoning of Soraya M.
The Iranian embassy confirms it was involved in the initial “complaints” about the Iranium event. The Library confirms the embassy lodged a formal request to cancel the screening. A “suspicious” package or a letter that turned out to be a false alarm – that’s something I can understand as a justification for cancelling the showing. But the National Library first cancelled the screening after merely having received “complaints.” It agreed not to back down to the protests, only after Moore’s office intervened. But then the Library apparently backed down again after “letters” and “threats” and “protests,” or something.
“I’m outraged that in the capital of Canada the Iranians have been able to shut down a movie,” Fred said. “Bad enough in Tehran, but in Ottawa?”
Apparently so. Something very nasty is going on here, and I am more than a little curious to discover what’s at the bottom of it, who was involved in these “protests,” and what the hell the National Library was thinking by cancelling the screening in the first place. The National Library is not the Bijou. It’s a venerable, national, public institution. Iranium is an important film, it’s a new film, and Clare Lopez, a Middle East strategic policy and intelligence expert was flown in from Washington D.C. for the planned screening. The National Library owes more than an apology and a lot more than full compensation for the Film Society’s costs. It owes every Canadian a complete explanation and full accounting of what the hell just happened.

I imagine it was Ms. Lopez the Iranians really wanted to muzzle seeing as the film will be widely available soon. Have a listen to her here at CFRA Ottawa’s website:

…
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Clare Lopez with Nick Vandergragt
As mentioned by Lowell Green, here is the program that originally aired Thursday January 6th with Nick at Night filling in for Lowell with special guest Clare M. Lopez, a strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on Middle East, national defense, WMD, and counterterrorism issues. They were discussing “Iranium”, a film that details the brutal nature of the Iranian regime to its own citizens, and the Iranian people’s desire to rejoin the international community.
The planned screening of Iranium was cancelled at the Library and Archives Canada building Tuesday night due to protest threats.
mp3 (click here to download)
…

Ironically, the Iranian Embassy itself has apparently rented the theatre at the Archives several times to show its own propaganda films.
The government has now responded pretty firmly, effectively it appears instructing the Archives to let the film be shown. From Giggles Taber of the Globe, who seems to see the story only in party political terms–missing herself as usual any bigger picture:

Top Tories bristle at Iranian [sic] film’s cancellation
…Tehran’s atomic ambition. Two senior Harper cabinet ministers are criticizing the cancellation of a documentary film that looks at Iran’s ability to build nuclear weapons, calling it “outrageous” and warning the Canadian government will not be bullied by Iran.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Heritage Minister James Moore weighed in on the controversy via Twitter as news broke that the film, Iranium, would not be screened.
Calling the cancellation “outrageous,” Mr. Kenney said: “I hope that folks from across the political spectrum will help the Free Thinking Film Society to overcome intimidation & screen the film.”
The Free Thinking Film Society organized the event Tuesday at the National Archives of Canada. It was called off, according to reports, after threats of protests were made by phone and suspicious letters were dropped off at the venue. The Iranian embassy also filed a formal complaint, saying it wanted the showing stopped.
This did not impress the Heritage Minister. Mr. Moore cautioned the Iranian Embassy not to “dictate to the Government of Canada which films will or will not be shown in Canada.”
He added: “I am disappointed that Library & Archives Canada chose not to show the film tonight due to threats of violence,” wrote Mr. Moore…
Update Mr. Moore says the show will go on.
According the his press secretary, Mr. Moore started working on figuring out how the issue could be corrected as soon as heard the screening was in doubt. He has since instructed the Archives to honour its commitment to show the film while taking all appropriate steps to ensure security, Codie Taylor said.
“Canada does not accept attempts from the Iranian Embassy to dictate what films will and will not be shown in Canada,” the Heritage Minister said through Ms. Taylor. “The principle of free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy”
You can view the trailer for Iranium here…

A Class of Parasite

Uncategorized 10 Comments

… called Gutmenschen:

What a wonderfully apt term for the self-righteous public servants for whom diversity really is enriching. How many people in Britain make a living from multiculturalism and “community cohesion”? The number of taxpayer and partly-taxpayer funded government bodies, community groups, political organisations and “charities” devoted towards diversity and equality or race relations is certainly in the four figures, and the total cost to the taxpayer must be several hundred millions of pounds – all totally wasted.

… Gutmenschen have apparently been spotted in North America … just saying.

“Ecofascist” Is Not An Insult

Climate Cult 44 Comments

It’s a description. Now is the time at SDA when we told you so!
Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore,1997 – “A lot of those in the peace movement were anti-American and, to an extent, pro-Soviet. By virtue of their anti-Americanism, they tended to sometimes favor the communist approach. A lot of those people, a lot of those social activists, moved into the environmental movement once the peace movement was no longer relevant.”
Washington Times, January 2011;

According to [NASA climate activist/scientist James Hansen], compared to China, we are “the barbarians” with a “fossil-money- ‘democracy’ that now rules the roost,” making it impossible to legislate effectively on climate change. Unlike us, the Chinese are enlightened, unfettered by pesky elections. Here’s what he blogged on Nov. 24:
“I have the impression that Chinese leadership takes a long view, perhaps because of the long history of their culture, in contrast to the West with its short election cycles. At the same time, China has the capacity to implement policy decisions rapidly. The leaders seem to seek the best technical information and do not brand as a hoax that which is inconvenient.”

An obvious suggestion – Maybe he can even fill in for Tom Friedman …
More here on the James Hansen op-ed for The South China Morning Post.

The People’s Airwaves

Uncategorized 25 Comments

Take one completely untenable, pie-in-the-sky idea, combine it with government enforcement, and you’ll get fairness:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on Friday that the Federal Communications Commission should reinstate the fairness doctrine for broadcast television to ensure that multiple sides of controversial topics are offered to the public.

But, umm, which of the “multiple sides,” and how many of them, would broadcasters be forced to air under the aegis of the doctrine? You can’t air ’em all, surely. And which person, or group of people, will be entrusted and empowered to “ensure” that this – juried- selection of “multiple sides” is aired?
Who even cares? It’s just such a great idea:

“I think it makes sense for people to be able to hear as many sides of political opinions as possible, and as long as it’s the people’s airwaves that should be used for that purpose.”

Details to be worked out later. On behalf of the people.

Reader Tips

Reader Tips 40 Comments

The Norwegians, the Dutch and the Swedes – and probably people of other northern European nations as well – all make their own versions of thin, egg-heavy breakfast pancakes, which are typically sprinkled with sugar or some other topping and then rolled up. As anyone who’s tried them can attest, they’re very tasty and filling. Tonight, Margrét from Iceland shows us how to make Icelandic Pönnukökur.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.

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