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30 April, 2012
Tennessee legislature attacks anti-Christian policy at Vanderbilt U
We read:
"The state legislature is looking again at trying to make Vanderbilt University drop its controversial “all-comers” policy after Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, presented a measure Thursday that would basically force the school to choose between taking HOPE lottery scholarships and keeping the policy.
The legislature has been weighing a bill that would prevent public universities in Tennessee from adopting Vanderbilt’s policy — which says campus groups can’t require members and leaders to adhere to their credos — and that measure finally made it to the floor of the state House of Representatives Thursday.
When it did, Dunn rose to add an amendment that he had withdrawn while the bill was in committee that would have barred any private school accepting more than $24 million in state money, namely Vanderbilt, from having that policy as well. Dunn said Vanderbilt had failed to work the issue out with religious organizations that say they are being discriminated against by being required to take in people who do not share their beliefs.
“Perhaps it would be OK if they applied this policy across the campus to all groups, but what they have done is they have said fraternities and sororities, you don’t have to come under this,” Dunn said. “They’re willing to do something that will hurt little religious organizations. … I think it’s time to send a message to folks, ‘OK, if you’re going to have an all-comers policy, let it apply to everyone.’”
Source
The British council that kept its prayers – by dropping God
We read:
"For as long as anyone can remember, councillors in Gloucestershire have stood up for a brief prayer before their meetings get under way.
But when three agnostic and atheist members staged a protest against the historic practice by remaining seated, the chairman decided something must be done to retain council unity.
So he hit upon an apparently ingenious solution: from now on, the prayer would still be said – but with all references to God removed.
So rather than asking "may He give us wisdom to carry out our duties ...", the chairman now states "may we find the wisdom ..." - and the "prayer" still ends with the chairman leading other members in saying "amen".
The authority is one of dozens across Britain which have recently scrapped or significantly altered their custom of saying prayers at the start of meetings under pressure from secular campaigners, who argue the practice breaches their human rights and excludes non-believers and people from other faiths.
Source
29 April, 2012
Fascist schools think they own their students -- even after hours
I'm on the side of the ACLU in this one. Schools should stick to providing an education. They are not a police force controlling what the kids do out of hours. Leave police work to the police. Maybe if they stuck to providing an education, they might do a better job of it
"The relevance of private postings on Facebook to school and work environments has become a highly debated topic ever since the net giant’s influence spread to nearly every part of modern life. So it was only a matter of time before the ACLU filed a suit regarding Facebook posts, and indeed, now they have.
From Indiana comes a story of several teenage girls who were suspended from Griffith Middle School for making inappropriate, off-color jokes on Facebook. The Indiana ACLU has challenged this action in court, according to the Indy Star:
“This conversation spanned numerous subjects, from the pain of cutting oneself while shaving to the girls’ friendship, before turning to a discussion of which of their classmates they would kill if they had the chance,” the suit continued. “At all times, the conversation was purely in jest and could not have been interpreted seriously, as is evidenced by the girls‘ repeated use of ’emoticons,’ by their use of abbreviations indicative of humor, and by the nature and tone of the conversation.
“Free speech rights under the First Amendment, even when it‘s speech we don’t like or agree with, must still be protected, and schools do not possess infinite reach into the private lives of their students.”
Source
TN: Confederate flag dress? No prom for you!
We read:
"Gibson County High School senior Texanna Edwards was -- like many of her classmates -- looking forward to her prom last Saturday. But Edwards didn’t get to attend because of her attire -- a knee-length red dress decorated with bright blue stripes and white stars inside the stripes.
The school’s colors are red, white and blue, but the dress resembles the controversial Confederate battle flag. Edwards, 18, said she wasn’t allowed inside the prom after school officials told her the Confederate flag prom dress was 'offensive and inappropriate.'"
Source
The disrespecting of the South continues
28 April, 2012
Incorrect washing-up sponges
Britain:
"A company behind a new range of Afro style washing up sponges has been slammed for being racist.No free speech for marines?
Campaigners have attacked British makers Paladone for its latest range of dish cleaning products which caricatures black soul legend Diana Ross as having a brillo pad for a hairstyle.
The offending items, which have just gone on sale across the UK, have been likened to reproducing golliwogs or the Black and White Minstrels by reinforcing negative stereotypes.
The Unite Against Fascism general secretary Weyman Bennett said: ‘What are we going to have next, toilet brushes like that?
‘Although it’s aimed at being humorous, sometimes it’s not funny.
Source
We read:
"A sergeant will be discharged for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook in a case that called into question the Pentagon's policies about social media and its limits on the speech of active duty military personnel, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.
Sgt. Gary Stein will get an other-than-honorable discharge and lose most of his benefits for violating the policies, the Corps said. The San Diego-area Marine who has served nearly 10 years in the Corps said he was disappointed by the decision. He has argued that he was exercising his free-speech rights."
Source
He wasn't disclosing anything of operational importance
27 April, 2012
State Threatens to Shut Down Nutrition Blogger
We read:
"The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition is threatening to send a blogger to jail for recounting publicly his battle against diabetes and encouraging others to follow his lifestyle.
Chapter 90, Article 25 of the North Carolina General Statutes makes it a misdemeanor to “practice dietetics or nutrition” without a license. According to the law, “practicing” nutrition includes “assessing the nutritional needs of individuals and groups” and “providing nutrition counseling.”
Steve Cooksey has learned that the definition, at least in the eyes of the state board, is expansive.
When he was hospitalized with diabetes in February 2009, he decided to avoid the fate of his grandmother, who eventually died of the disease. He embraced the low-carb, high-protein Paleo diet, also known as the “caveman” or “hunter-gatherer” diet. The diet, he said, made him drug- and insulin-free within 30 days. By May of that year, he had lost 45 pounds and decided to start a blog about his success.
But this past January the state diatetics and nutrition board decided Cooksey’s blog — Diabetes-Warrior.net — violated state law. The nutritional advice Cooksey provides on the site amounts to “practicing nutrition,” the board’s director says, and in North Carolina that’s something you need a license to do.
Unless Cooksey completely rewrites his 3-year-old blog, he could be sued by the licensing board. If he loses the lawsuit and refuses to take down the blog, he could face up to 120 days in jail.
The board’s director says Cooksey has a First Amendment right to blog about his diet, but he can’t encourage others to adopt it unless the state has certified him as a dietitian or nutritionist.
It’s not necessarily against the law to give your sister or your friend nutritional advice, she said. And it’s not necessarily against the law to use a blog to tell people what they should eat.
Where it crosses the line, Burill said, is when a blogger “advertises himself as an expert” and “takes information from someone such that he’s performing some sort of assessment and then giving it back with some sort of plan or diet.”
Cooksey posts the following disclaimer at the bottom of every page on his website: “I am not a doctor, dietitian, nor nutritionist … in fact I have no medical training of any kind.”
In fact, he brags about his lack of formal training throughout his blog. “It’s so simple,” he told CJ. “I cut carbs, I reduced my drugs and insulin until I didn’t need them at all. If I can figure that out, why in the hell can’t all these other people [in the medical field]?”
“Anyone can talk about anything they want,” Burill said. “That’s a First Amendment right, so to speak.”
For example, a person could write a blog advocating vegetarianism, she said.
Source
Sounds like a clear 1st Amendment violation. He is just presenting his view and not claiming to be professionally qualified
French President plans crackdown on Internet hate sites
We read:
"President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday that France would make it a crime to consult Web sites that advocate terrorism or hate crimes and would toughen a crackdown on people who went abroad for ideological indoctrination.
"From now on, any person who habitually consults Web sites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence will be criminally punished," Sarkozy said in a televised address after police shot dead an al Qaeda-inspired gunman who had killed seven people.
"France will not tolerate forced recruitment or ideological indoctrination on its soil," Sarkozy said, adding that an enquiry would be launched into whether prisons were being used to propagate extremism in France.
Source
This announcement is from a few weeks back but nothing more seems to have happened about it. It would need legislation and since Sarko seems to be set to lose the current Presidential election, that may be the end of it.
Advocating violence is one thing but just reading an advocacy of violence is surely something else. The first is generally not protected anywhere but the second would probably catch many people who read but do nothing about it -- an overkill.
26 April, 2012
‘Guilty’: Egyptian Court Upholds Famed Arab Comedian’s Jail Sentence for…Insulting Islam
We read:
" An Egyptian court on Tuesday upheld a conviction against one of the Arab world’s most famous comedians, sentencing him to jail for offending Islam in some of his most popular films.
The case against Adel Imam and others like it have raised concerns among some Egyptians that ultraconservative Muslims who made gains in recent elections after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last year are trying to foist their religious views on the entire country.
Critics say the trend threatens to curb Egypt’s vibrant film industry and freedom of speech.
Imam was sentenced to three months in jail and fined around $170 for insulting Islam in roles he played in movies such as “The Terrorist”, in which he acted the role of a wanted terrorist who found refuge with a middle class, moderate family, and the film “Terrorism and Kabab. ”
The actor was also found guilty for his 2007 role in “Morgan Ahmed Morgan,” in which Imam played a corrupt businessman who tries to buy a university diploma. The film included a scene parodying bearded Muslim men wearing traditional Islamic clothing.
Source
Sad but not unexpected to see the light of liberty go out in a Muslim country
Air Force Bows to Atheist Complaints: Will Remove Bible from on-Base Lodging
We read:
"Military atheists are increasingly making their voices heard. The Blaze has previously reported about
the Rock Beyond Belief concert at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Now, there is a situation developing in which non-believers in the military (and their supporters) are attacking a policy that has led to Bibles being placed in on-base lodging facilities.
According to WRWR, Air Force officials have agreed — at least in principle — to remove Bibles from rooms after being pressured by the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF), an atheist group that is led by Jason Torpy. The MAAF’s self-described goal is to combat “…insensitive practices that illegally promote religion over non-religion within the military or unethically discriminate against minority religions or differing beliefs.”
The group apparently maintained that the presence of Bibles, which are placed in the rooms by Gideons, is “a special privilege for Christianity.”
While the Air Force has not demanded that the holy books be removed from inns, a revised checklist will take effect on October 1 (at the start of the 2013 fiscal year). The books, of course, will be removed from the required items.
Source
What harm does it do to have a Bible in the room? Many in the U.S. armed forces are Christians and reading the Gospels could be of some help to them. But if you don't want to read it don't.
25 April, 2012
Mitt and Marco: the WASP and the WHISP
Mitt Romney is rumored to disobey the mainstream media's Hispanic Skin Color Advisory System while vetting vice-presidential candidates. According to experts, the likely Republican VP candidate, Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, is too light-skinned to be considered fully Hispanic, falling under a subprime minority group classification as White Hispanic, or WHISP.
With big thanks to Oleg at The People's Cube
Must not equate "Progressives" with Communists
Rep. West
We read:
"Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has taken intense heat from the media and the left over his statement that there are “78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.” In the wake of the controversy that has resulted from his remarks, West, who was slated to be a speaker at an event hosted by the Martin County chapter of the NAACP this past Saturday, was disinvited from addressing the group.
The statement in question is, of course, when Rep. Allen said that “I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party … It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.”
Source
"Progressives" rarely ever had a bad word to say about Soviet Russia in its time and they still adore Castro so I think Colonel West has a point
24 April, 2012
Blogger.com problems
Google have once again done a lot of "improvements" to blogger.com, the tool used to put up this blog. At least the improvements didn't cause any crashes or service outages this time -- but the new tool is much more pesky than the old one. I have actually been using it for over a month now so I think I know the ins and outs of it but I would still like the option of returning to the old system.
Anyway, I won't bore you with any further details as it essentially affects me only, not readers here.
One thing it has just done, however is to throw a lot of legitimate comments into the spam box. I have now rescued them and they are now there for all to read. It's lucky that I inspect the spam box once a day. Until they get their spam monitor working properly again, I will try to check it more often than that.
No free speech in Denmark
We read:
"Lars Hedegaard, the president of the Danish Free Press Society, has been acquitted by the Danish Supreme Court on charges of "hate speech" for critical comments he made about Islam.
The verdict, however represents only a partial victory for free speech in a Europe that is being stifled by politically correct restrictions on free speech, particularly on issues related to Islam.
Although Hedegaard was acquitted, it was on a legal technicality; in its ruling, the Supreme Court stressed that the substance of the charges against Hedegaard -- public criticism of Islam, -- is still a crime punishable by imprisonment.
Hedegaard's legal problems began in December 2009, when he said in a taped interview that there was a high incidence of child rape and domestic violence in areas dominated by Muslim culture. Although Hedegaard insisted that he did not intend to accuse all Muslims or even the majority of Muslims of such crimes, Denmark's thought police were incensed at such effrontery
On April 20, 2012, the Danish Supreme Court decided that the prosecution had failed to prove that Hedegaard was aware that his statements would be published. Although Hedegaard was thus acquitted, the court also made a special point of ruling that the substance of his statements, namely the public criticism of Islam, is a violation of Article 266b.
As a result, although Hedegaard has been cleared of wrongdoing, the Supreme Court has affirmed the legal restrictions on free speech in Denmark.
Source
Depiction of Indian teepees incorrect?
It seems so. Two American Indian students have complained about a drawing of teepees that appeared in the student magazine of the very Liberal Amherst college. The "problem" seems to be that teepees are represented as an inferior form of accomodation. Below is an excerpt from the letter of complaint
Recently, your school news journal, The Indicator (Volume XXXIII, Issue 2, page 19), ran a cartoon depicting the “Lord Jeff approved” housing solution in the form of tipis. We find this incredibly insensitive, and ultimately, racist. Let us be clear, the person who drew the cartoon (Tricia Lipton), the editors who approved it (Nadirah Porter-Kasbati and Laurence Pevsner), and the student body, faculty, and staff of Amherst College who subsequently read it and perhaps even laughed are not necessarily racists. They have, however, participated in racist behavior, unintentionally or not.
Source
A lot of the heartburn seems to be caused by the very name Amherst. The college is named after a British army General: Jeffery Amherst, who certainly despised American Indians and did consider sending them smallpox-infected blankets. There is no evidence that he or anyone else did so, however. Indians died of smallpox in droves anyway.
That was before the American revolution and during the French/Indian wars. The hate-filled allegation by Ward Churchill that the AMERICAN army later handed out smallpox-infected blankets is debunked here
23 April, 2012
The deepest depths of "incorrectness"
There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up.
Chris has surpassed himself in his tendency to speak the unspeakable this time by asking if Norway killer Breivik is a homosexual.
It turns out that there is surprisingly good evidence that Breivik IS homosexual. It might be noted that Pim Fortuyn, the leading Dutch anti-immigrant activist (until he was shot by a Leftist), was openly homosexual.
All regular readers of this blog will know why the very possibility of Breivik being homosexual will never be mentioned in the American mainstream media. It would be to attack the Leftist holy of holies.
One of the references Chris relies on is here
Chris also identifies Dutch anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders as homosexual but I should mention that Wilders is in fact a married man (married to a woman) though how significant that is I have no idea. It was once common for homosexuals to marry as "cover". Pity the women involved, though.
Must not criticise Obama (again)
But calling Bush a Nazi was just fine, of course
Getting the boot from Fort Knox is the latest wrinkle in a controversy that began last weekend at an NRA convention and led to a visit from the Secret Service.
Citing inflammatory language while expressing his displeasure with President Barack Obama, the military has uninvited rock star and conservative political activist Ted Nugent from performing at Fort Knox in Kentucky, according to the U.S. Army post's Facebook page.
"After learning of opening act Ted Nugent's recent public comments about the president of the United States, Fort Knox leadership decided to cancel his performance on the installation," it's Facebook posting says.
Use of the violent metaphors earned Nugent a visit from Secret Service agents on Thursday. He said Friday on his website that he had with them a "good, solid professional meeting concluding that I have never made any threats of violence toward anyone."
A spokesman for Fort Knox told TheBlaze.com that having Nugent perform "would be a conflict of interest since the military has the obligation to be apolitical."
Such a claim, though, seems dubious when it comes to choosing entertainers, who oftentimes show their partisanship. At its website, for example, Fort Knox is touting an appearance this month by comedian Jay Phillips who is supportive of Obama through his Twitter activities. And Ludacris has performed at U.S. Army bases even after the 2008 release of his pro-Obama song "Politics As Usual," which calls Hillary Clinton, who was running against Obama at the time, a "bitch" who is "irrelevant." The ultra-partisan song also called President George W. Bush "mentally handicapped" and says that Sen. John McCain "don't belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed."
Source
22 April, 2012
Virginia Schoolteacher Removes References to God From ‘We Are the World’
We read:
"Another day, another song getting references to God cut from it. But not to worry – lest you think it’s only songs conservatives love that get butchered, this story shows that even liberal anthems about saving the world can get the ax if they suggest the presence of the almighty.
The scene is Virginia’s Broadus Wood Elementary School in Albemarle County. The song is the infamously saccharine “We Are the World.” And the teacher is one Jean Flaherty. The occasion is an upcoming 4th and 5th grade performance of said song, being organized by Ms. Flaherty. Only Flaherty wasn’t satisfied with the lyrical content of the already vapid, innocuous song, so she decided to do a little alteration.
You see, the original song contains two references to God. In these verses:
We can’t go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, Love is all we need[...]
Send them your heart so they’ll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
Ms. Flaherty took the liberty of changing these lyrics to something a little bit more secular:
We can’t go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of one great big family
And the truth, you know, Love is all we need[...]
Send them your heart so they’ll know that someone cares
So their cries for help will not be in vain
We can’t let them suffer; no we cannot turn away
Right now, they need a helping hand
The second verse isn’t Ms. Flaherty’s original invention. It comes from a more recent version of “We Are the World” recorded to help the people of Haiti. Even so, the substitution has some parents upset
Source
Female figurines must not look like females
We read:
"A FEMINIST group is up in arms over a new line of LEGOs they claim hypersexualises girls with its curvier female figures.
"They have little breasts and they have fancy hair. And it just disturbs us that this is the image that they want girls to see," the organisation's executive director, Dana Edell, told FOXNews.com.
Edell also objects to what she calls stereotyping of preferred pastimes for girls, since the set includes a hot tub, a splash pool, a beauty parlour, an outdoor bakery, as well as an inventor's workshop.
But Dr. Leonard Sax disagrees with Edell's protest, saying gender differences are natural and there is nothing wrong with the company offering what it sees as a girl-friendly version of the interlocking plastic building blocks loved by children since 1949.
"These particular women's groups are disconnected from reality in their desire to promote the idea that these gender differences are taught by the patriarchy or through socialization," said Sax, author of "Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences".
Source
21 April, 2012
Democrats Want to Change First Amendment to Allow Regulation of Corporate Speech
This is just grandstanding. Constitutional amendments are very difficult to get enacted -- as the ERA proponents found
The Democratic party’s temper tantrum over Citizens United v. FEC has ratcheted up to a new level – now, instead of arguing that the ruling is wrong and the constitution doesn’t protect corporate speech, they’re arguing that the first amendment does protect corporate speech, so they’re going to change it! At least this time, they’re following the process prescribed by the Founders.
The bill in question is called the “Peoples’ Rights Amendment,” and its goal is to explicitly allow Congress to regulate corporate speech however it wants:
Section 1. We the people who ordain and establish this Constitution intend the rights protected by this Constitution to be the rights of natural persons.
Section 2. People, person, or persons as used in this Constitution does not include corporations, limited liability companies or other corporate entities established by the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state, and such corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their elected state and federal representatives, deem reasonable and are otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the States under this Constitution.
Source
Note that Labor unions are not mentioned. They are apparently to be above regulation by Congress.
Canadian School District to Vote on Banning Bible Handouts
We read:
"A Toronto school district in southern Ontario is taking a final vote on Tuesday night regarding whether to ban free handouts of Gideons Bibles. Based on past votes, the Bluewater School District is expecting the dissemination of Bibles for non-instructional purposes to fifth-grade students to be officially halted.
According to the Associated Press, the debate has been an emotional one, with trustees receiving both threats and hate mail. These individuals are accusing the trustees who oversee the district as being both un-Christian and un-Canadian by refusing to allow the Bibles to be handed out.
The local Gideons International chapter in Canada has distanced itself from these charges, saying that it will accept the ban if it is implemented; some church elders have also separated themselves from these critiques.
The invective of those opposed to the ban unnerved some trustees of the Bluewater board, which has more than 18,000 students in 53 schools.
Those who support the ban argue that the distribution of Bibles has no place in public schools. Some go as far as to claim that proving the holy book actually violates human rights legislation.
However, opponents are highly critical of the likely ban. Some parents have even threatened to remove their children from the public school system if, indeed, it is implemented.
In an effort to temper flames, Johnstone has reiterated that the ban was only on non-instructional materials. She said that multi-faith content in all public school curriculum will continue, so long as it is for educational purposes. “Bibles and other religious texts will continue to be available in our libraries,” Johnstone said.
Source
20 April, 2012
Christians must not be allowed to advertise ANYTHING!
We read:
"Last month, The Blaze reported about NASCAR driver Blake Koch and his campaign aimed at educating fans on the importance of voting in U.S. elections. As we highlighted, Koch alleged that ESPN refused to air his purely non-partisan and non-religious commercial based purely on religious content present on his personal web site.
Now, The Christian Post is reporting that another sponsor has stepped up after his original backer, Rise Up and Register, dropped its support for Koch after ESPN issued its decision.
ChristianCinema.com intervened by sponsoring him for a race and by starting a campaign to help him find a more permanent solution to his financial problems on the track.
While Koch was practically forced to back out of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 race at the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas last weekend due to the loss of his initial sponsor, ChristianCinema.com’s support kept him in.
Source
Must not mention variations in "black" skincolor
This is actually a big issue among blacks. Lighter skinned blacks are more prestigious. But it's just another thing that whites may not mention
"We loved the hilarious Super Bowl ad for the coming-some-day-but-not-anytime-soon Acura NSX starring Jerry Seinfeld.
TMZ is reporting that when the commercial was cast, the ad the agency responsible had sought an African-American actor to play the car dealer who was, "Nice looking, friendly. Not too dark." And the website has a copy of the document to prove it.
TMZ says an unnamed source associated with the commercial told it that "not too dark" had something to do with lighting and special effects, and we hope that's true. Still, the way the brief description reads, it certainly sounds like whomever was casting the spot thinks dark-skinned people are neither nice nor friendly.
We're not about to throw Honda under the bus – it was, after all, an outside ad agency named RP& that shot the ad, according to Motoramic – as the automaker apologized
Source
19 April, 2012
Nugent under Secret Service investigation for “hate speech"?
We read:
"The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Monday called on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to disavow conservative rocker Ted Nugent after he encouraged members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) to defeat Democrats and “chop their heads off in November.”
“Mitt Romney surrogate Ted Nugent made offensive comments about President Obama and November’s elections this weekend that are despicable, deplorable and completely beyond the pale,” DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a press advisory. “He called the Administration ‘vile,’ ‘evil’ and ‘America-hating,’ and said much worse.”
Over the weekend, Nugent told the NRA crowd that they “should be to get a couple of thousand people per person who’s here to vote for Mitt Romney in November.”
“If you don’t know that our government is wiping its ass with the Constitution, you’re living under a rock some place. And that there’s a dead soldier, an airman, a Marine, a seaman, a hero of the military that just got his legs blown off for the U.S. Constitution, and we got a president and an attorney general who doesn’t even like the Constitution,” he said, adding that the four left-leaning Supreme Court justices were “like a stoned hippy” because they “don’t believe in the Constitution.”
“And if you want more of those kinds of evil, anti-American people in the Supreme Court then don’t get involved and let Obama take office again. Because I’ll tell you this right now, if Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”
Nugent continued by urging attendees to get everyone they knew to vote for Romney and against “this vile, evil, America-hating administration” or “we’ll be a suburb of Indonesia next year.” “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November!” he exclaimed. “Any questions?”
New York magazine reports that the Secret Service is looking into Nugent’s comments as a possible threat on the president’s life. “We are aware of it, and we’ll conduct an appropriate follow up,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
Source
See also here for lots of Twittering on the subject.
Sometimes you can't win
Even do-gooders can get it wrong
"Sweden's culture minister today faced furious calls to resign after she was pictured cutting a 'racist' black cake designed like a native African woman.
Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth had appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm when she was invited to cut the cake which was designed like a naked African woman.
The Swedish minister cut pieces from the black cake, which had blood-red sponge and was designed to highlight the issue of female genital mutilation.
Despite the intentions of the bizarre cake, however, critics described it as a 'racist spectacle', and demanded Ms Liljeroth resigned for participating in the 'tasteless' event.
The Association for African Swedes said the cake was a crude racist caricature which 'makes a mockery of racism'.
Source
18 April, 2012
Must not protest against big government
We read:
"Do you remember when Glenn Beck fan and Bruins goalie Tim Thomas turned down the White House invite in protest of big government?
Washington Capital fans are looking to capitalize (pun fully intended) on Thomas’ anti-big government gesture by urging each other to show up to the D.C.-hosted game with signs, posters, and masks of President Obama.
“With noted White House critic Tim Thomas set to visit town, in a kind of important game, several Caps sites decided that Presidential taunting was in order,” the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg writes.
“Please print out a trillion of these [masks] and camp out in front of the glass during warm-ups,” one site reads.
“Cut out the eyeholes on the mask, tie it in front of your ugly mug, and give Thomas a warm welcome to Washington, D.C., the most powerful city on Earth. This is your moment to shine.”
Source
No tolerance for being Christian
We read:
"Tim Tebow has work to do if he’s going to win over New York sports fans. The new backup quarterback for the Jets was booed at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night when he was shown on the giant video board — even though he was wearing a Yankees cap.
Sitting in the third row next to the Los Angeles Angels dugout, Tebow cracked a smile and acknowledged the camera. There was a smattering of cheers, but most of the initial reactions were boos.
Tebow was acquired by the New York Jets from Denver in a much-hyped trade last month. He is expected to back up starter Mark Sanchez, even though Tebow rallied the Broncos to the NFL playoffs last season and became a polarizing sensation in the process.
Source
17 April, 2012
Cop is a bit too frank about the ladies at Aintree
The Grand National jump race is held at Aintree racecourse near Liverpool, England. Liverpool is generally a lower socio-economic area. As a major horseracing event on the social calendar, however, the Grand National is an occasion of great prestige.
As they rarely get the opportunity at any other time of attending anything as prestigious, the women of Liverpool turn out in droves for it, making sometimes desperate attempts at glamour. Slim one are rare. And that is what the police officer below is referring to. He has obviously seen it all.
Police have launched an investigation after an officer blasted women attending Ladies' Day at Aintree for being alcoholics and bad mothers in a Facebook tirade.
PC David Crawford, of Merseyside Police, appeared to be targeting Liverpool women whom he labelled as 'tramps' who 'feed their kids pork scratchings' for breakfast.
The outburst was posted on the social networking site as thousands descended on Aintree racecourse on Friday.
The officer proclaimed Ladies' Day as being 'more like Halloween' and derided the calibre of the women attending the race meeting.'Cos come Sunday ul b back to drinking ya Lambrini at 10 in the morning watching Jeremy Kyle whilst shouting the kids 'britney and Tyson come down for ya pork scratching breakfast'.
'Whilst ya 10 quid fake bake tan is smeared all over the place an everything u touch looks like an ARL used t bag has been there.
'Tramps! Ladies Day - more like Halloween! Rant over.'
Source
The photographers did manage to find SOME slim ones:
Freedom of speech row over British blogger who faces jail for calling councillor a c*** on Twitter
We read:
"A political blogger who used an offensive term on Twitter to indirectly describe a local councillor is facing jail in a landmark conviction which has caused outrage on the social networking site.
John Graham Kerlen, who blogs under the name Olly Cromwell, used the word 'c***' while tweeting about Bexley Council.
Mr Kerlen, an outspoken blogger whose website heavily criticises the local authority in south east London, posted an image of a councillor's house, as well as a tweet saying: 'Which c*** lives in a house like this. Answers on a postcard to #bexleycouncil.'
Mr Kerlen was arrested after a complaint from the councillor in question, and was charged with an offence under Section 127 of the Telecommunications Act 2003.
And in a case which could have huge legal repercussions for Twitter and its millions of users, Kerlen was convicted of the offence by Greenwich magistrates and now faces a possible jail term.
Source
This appears to be an obscenity conviction. In an age when "obscene" speech is very common in Britain, it sounds like the law is being twisted to a political purpose
16 April, 2012
Fired for speech -- and by a conservative magazine
They have been bluffed by the Left. "White flight" shows that most white Americans don't want to be around blacks but you are not allowed to say so
"Hot on the heels of John Derbyshire’s dismissal from National Review over a racially-charged article, the magazine has fired another contributor over the same issue. This time, it’s University of Illinois professor emeritus Robert Weissberg.
It appears the Professor spoke at a conference for the “American Renaissance” magazine in March, where he discussed “viable alternatives” to white nationalism, like “whitopias.”
The American Renaissance website described his speech:
He pointed out that there are still many “Whitopias” in America and that there are many ways to keep them white, such as zoning that requires large houses, and a cultural ambiance or classical music and refined demeanor that repels undesirables. This approach to maintaining whiteness has the advantage that people can make a living catering to whites in their enclaves.
Source
The mask slips a little
Leftists hate the society they live in and want to "reform" it drastically according to some gauzy model that exists only in their own heads. But in a patriotic country like the USA they have to hide their hatred of their country if they want to have any influence at all. But sometimes the deception weakens and the truth slips out
Not long ago, it was unthinkable to disrespect the National Anthem in anyway whatsoever. However pro-labor union protesters showed no hesitation in crossing that line on Saturday…
Maclver News Service has posted video of anti-Scott Walker protesters in Madison, Wisconsin making disrespectful remarks during the National Anthem at the Americans for Prosperity Tax Day Rally.
“Scott Walker tea-bagger!” one can be heard saying loudly, at the beginning.
“Show some respect for your country,” someone responded.
By the end of the National Anthem, right after “home of the brave,“ one of the protesters twice said ”We’re over here!” as though, perhaps, they are the “brave.”
His companion yells something loudly, though it is difficult to make out the phrase.
Source
15 April, 2012
Good news: Global censorship treaty ‘dead in the water’
We read:
"The European Parliament will effectively kill off the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the treaty’s rapporteur tells The Telegraph.
David Martin MEP said that the controversial treaty was likely to be rejected by the Parliament in July, and that new measures to deter music, film and software piracy were likely to take two years before they came into force.
Mr Martin stepped in to become the Treaty’s rapporteur in the European parliament after the resignation of Kader Arif, who condemned the process of secret talks.
Mr Martin said that the treaty would not effectively tackle online piracy and that he would be recommending Parliament reject it.
“The case for stronger intellectual property defence is very clear,” said Mr Martin. “But the atmosphere was wrong, with negotiations done behind closed doors without any real information coming out afterwards. What’s emerged is a thin text with insufficient detail, which appears to put duties on internet service providers to act as internet policemen.” It made no attempt to define, he said, for instance between “commercial” and “personal” downloading.
He added that the existing system of “notice and takedown” for content on the web should be better and more consistently applied across Europe
Source
SOPA was defeated in the USA. Now its European counterpart is dead too. Must not hint that it is preferable to be heterosexual
We read:
"Public figures often learn the hard way that Twitter holds the potential to get them into trouble — at least from a PR perspective. This is specifically true, it seems, when addressing the issue of homosexuality.
Not long ago, CNN’s Roland Martin was suspended — then reinstated — following tweets that were perceived to be anti-gay. Now, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White is also under fire over social media messages surrounding homosexuality.
The trouble started, The Huffington Post reports, when White was asked by a fan on Twitter whether he’d rather lead the league in receiving stats or wining a Super Bowl. His response, which HuffPo dubbed “bizarre,” drew a comparison to being gay or straight, has landed him in hot water with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
He responded, saying, “Would u rather be gay or straight come on u know that answer.”
Source
14 April, 2012
Marines fight to protect crosses at Camp Pendleton as atheist groups seek removal
We read:
"Planted atop a remote hill in the middle of California's Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base rests two 13-foot crosses. Originally erected back in 2003 by seven Marines grieving over lives lost in the war on terror, this site originally established for reflection has now become grounds for controversy.
“It's not a religious spot at all, it's a place for the Marines to grieve and to grow to let go of their burdens of what they had in their soul, so they can go back down that hill and back into battle and put their own lives on the line,” says Marine widow Karen Mendoza.
Her husband Ray was one of those original seven who climbed the hill that day, three of whom have since been killed in action, including Ray. “It's a symbol of sacrifice regardless of what you think, pray, like or don't like,” says Karen.
Marano tells me no one would complain if, for example, someone decided to put up a Buddhist shrine, “No one would complain at all, and I bet if we poked around, we’d probably find something like that here…I mean you can see a very side variety of items have been used, everything from a bottle of Jack Daniels to a Purple Heart and everything in between. I think most Americans are very fair-minded and see this memorial, frankly, for what it is,” says the Colonel as he overlooks the site.
He continues: “These two memorials have been sitting out here largely unknown outside of a very small group of Marines and family here at Camp Pendleton. The view that you can even see them from is very restricted, certainly you can’t see it from the public freeway or any of the highly trafficked public roads and even aboard Camp Pendleton it’s a very narrow viewing angle that you have of these crosses and this site.”
But the area has become controversial and more known after a newspaper report last fall detailed the location and posted a picture. In response, several groups filed complaints with Marines arguing the site violated the Constitutional mandate of separation of church and state, including the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers or MAAF. They want the crosses moved to a church on private land and flags or some other symbol used instead to mark the site.
The commandant of the Marines is expected to rule on the cross controversy any day.
Source
'Gay cure' London bus adverts banned
We read:
"Advertisements which suggested gay people could be cured have been banned from London buses, UK transport chiefs say.
The campaign was due to run for two weeks on the side of vehicles serving five routes in the capital, including top tourist destinations such as St Paul's Cathedral, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.
The posters, by Christian group Core Issues Trust, stated: "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!" and were believed to mock pro-gay group Stonewall's recent campaign which featured adverts saying: "Some people are gay. Get over it."
But following a huge public outcry which labelled the Core Issues' campaign homophobic, London mayor Boris Johnson, who chairs Transport for London (TfL), on Thusday night ordered the adverts to be pulled.
Source
What have homosexuals done to be such an especially favored and protected class who may not be criticized? What have they every done for anyone besides themselves?
13 April, 2012
Antisemitic stunt at Florida University
It was nominally anti-Israel but how did they know the Jewish students were pro-Israel? There are plenty of anti-Israel Jews. So the students were singled out just because they were Jewish
More than 200 Jewish students at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL found “eviction” notices posted on their dormitory doors Friday, unaware that it was part of a publicity stunt by Students for Justice in Palestine.
The organization’s chapter president, Noor Fawzy, explained, “We want to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinians…The intent is to expose Israel‘s illegal policies and give students a feel of what it’s like to live under occupation. “The ”notice” explained that more than 25,000 homes have been demolished since the “occupation of Palestine” began in 1967.
While SJP appears to have gotten university approval for the stunt (some members may have even been escorted by an employee official as they were posting the signs), the school has since removed the postings after many expressed their disapproval.
Rayna Exelbierd, who received one of the notices, said, “We’re taking it very seriously. We’re considering it a hate crime. The flier promotes hate; it doesn’t promote peace. People were scared by it. People felt threatened by it.”
Source
Alan Davies has committed a thought crime against the post-Hillsborough cult of emotional correctness
(The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush which occurred during the semi-final FA Cup tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. The crush resulted in the deaths of 96 people, with a total of 766 other persons being injured. All of them were fans of Liverpool Football Club)
The furore over Alan Davies’s perfectly sensible comments on Hillsborough raises a question: what are you allowed to say about that tragic event? All Davies said is that it is ridiculous for Liverpool FC to refuse to play a match on the anniversary date of the Hillsborough disaster, which is true.
We don’t normally hide away from the world on the anniversaries of terrible events. We don’t all stop using the London Underground on 17 November (the anniversary of the King’s Cross fire of 1987 that killed 32 people) or keep our children home from school on 21 October (the date in 1966 when a slag heap killed 116 schoolkids in Aberfan).
So why shouldn’t Liverpool, like every other team, play football on 15 April?
Source
12 April, 2012
More hate speech about conservatives
Substitute "blacks" or "homosexuals" for "Republicans" in the statements below and imagine the response. The teacher would be out on her ear. As it is, only a reprimand seems to be forthcoming
"Republicans are “stupid.” That loaded statement was purportedly delivered to sixth-graders by their public school teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia. The educator, Kristin Martin, is said to have railed against conservatives, allegedly telling students that “[Republicans] don’t care about anyone but wealthy people and businesses.”
“It all started when this disabled kid came in and named all the Republicans candidates for Super Tuesday,” one student said. “She [Martin] said to him, ‘I don’t like them, I think that they are stupid.’”
One mother, a Republican who is going unnamed in an effort to protect her child from retaliation, claims that the teacher’s words constitute indoctrination.
“I felt like the teacher was brainwashing naive, young children to believe people like me, my family and, to a certain extent, my daughter, were stupid,” the woman told The DC in an e-mail.
According to the woman’s daughter, Martin also made it known that she had voted for President Barack Obama and that the Democrats tend to do more “for the community and schools.”
SOURCE
Miami Marlins Suspend Manager Ozzie Guillen for Praising Fidel Castro
His remarks were obnoxious and stupid -- particularly in Miami -- but he is entitled to his opinions as long as they don't affect his work. But the remarks obviously had a big potential to harm the popularity of the team so I guess his temporary firing was justified. He's probably lucky he was not booted out for good.
Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen was suspended for five games Tuesday because of his comments about Fidel Castro. The suspension by the team takes effect immediately. It was announced shortly before Guillen was to hold a news conference to explain his remarks, which caused a public backlash.
Guillen told Time magazine he loves Castro and respects the retired Cuban leader for staying in power so long.
The political firestorm came shortly after the Marlins opened their ballpark last week in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. The team is trying to rebuild its fan base with the help of South Florida’s large Cuban American population.
Source
11 April, 2012
John Derbyshire is not backing down
Below is an excerpt from his response to the furore over his advice that whites should avoid blacks
The natural preference most people have for some races—usually their own—over others means that multiracial societies are plagued with stresses that you don't see in monoracial societies. The tendency in modern times is to separation. Look at residential and educational patterns in the U.S.A. I discuss these issues at length in my book We Are Doomed.
A friend of mine who is an academic social scientist likes to say that if you want to know what people believe, there are two methods of inquiry: (A) ask them, or (B) observe their behavior. It's a depressing fact about human nature that if you apply both (A) and (B) to a given situation, the answers you get will not necessarily be the same. Whether we are, as our current Attorney General said, a nation of cowards about race, I don't know; but looking at those residential and educational patterns, it's awfully hard to deny that we are a nation of liars.
The big question is whether these problems, as they manifest themselves in the U.S.A., are solvable. Current orthodoxy is that they are, and offers a laundry list of solution methods. Fix the schools! End poverty! Stamp out racism! Affirmative action! Fifty years ago a thoughtful person could sign on to those prescriptions. I know: I was around: I did. Yes (we said) once unjust laws had been struck down, and some social massaging of that sort been done for a few years, the races would merge in happy harmony, and the word "race" and its derivatives would drop out of the language. We all believed that. I believed it.
Plainly this hasn't happened, except of course in the upper classes, which go by their own rules. For a thoughtful person today to believe that these social-engineering nostrums will (for example) bring black crime rates to a level indistinguishable from white crime rates, involves a strenuous act of what Orwell called "doublethink"—massive self-deception. Does anyone, after all those decades, all those trillions of dollars, all those failed social-engineering experiments, does anyone really, honestly still believe in the nostrums? I don't.
My own sense of the thing is that underneath the happy talk, underneath the dogged adherence to failed ideas and dead theories, underneath the shrieking and anathematizing at people like me, there is a deep and cold despair. In our innermost hearts,we don't believe racial harmony can be attained. Hence the trend to separation. We just want to get on with our lives away from each other. Yet for a moralistic, optimistic people like Americans, this despair is unbearable. It's pushed away somewhere we don't have to think about it. When someone forces us to think about it, we react with fury. That little boy in the Andersen story about the Emperor's new clothes? The ending would be more true to life if he had been lynched by a howling mob of outraged citizens.
Source
Derbyshire is ill with leukemia so may not have long to live. So I guess he feels that he has nothing to lose by calling it like it is. Sad that it takes a dying man to point out the obvious.
I note that elsewhere in the article Derb says that he is fine with Asians. I am too. I have several Indians living with me in my house. They are gentlemen as far as I am concerned. Who cares if they are brown? What a racist I must be!
Minneapolis board sued for relegating free speech to empty park space
In my previous comment on this I prophesied that the "Free speech zone" would be a crock. And so it turns out to be.
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for isolating Christians handing out Bibles to an empty and isolated “no pride zone” while the Twin Cities Pride Festival takes place in a completely separate part of a city park. The festival is an annual celebration of homosexual behavior.
“The government should not be exiling free speech, it should be protecting it,” said lead counsel Nate Kellum, one of nearly 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance. “It’s ridiculous to say that the only place where people can hand out Bibles is an area where there’s no one to hand Bibles to. The Constitution simply does not permit the board to relegate free speech to isolated regions where no one can receive the message. That’s not free speech at all. It’s pure censorship.”
ADF filed the suit on behalf of Brian Johnson after the board agreed to settle a separate legal dispute with Twin Cities Pride, the organizers of the festival, by prohibiting First Amendment activity within the portion of the park where the festival takes place. The only exception to the rule is a small, hard-to-find drop-box where materials can be placed for people to pick up on their own. Even though the event is open to the public and takes place at a public park, no one is allowed to walk through the festival to hand out Bibles.
Source
10 April, 2012
Why Did Soccer’s Real Madrid Remove the Cross From Its Logo?
What’s the difference between these two versions of the Real Madrid soccer team’s logo? The logo on the left is the typical one used by the massively popular Real Madrid soccer team. It is still the logo seen on the club’s web site.
The one on the right is the new, edited version that will be used to promote the new, billion dollar Real Madrid resort island being built in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Did you notice that the small cross atop the crown was removed?
If you are not familiar with the soccer world, Real Madrid is on par with other globally-recognized professional sports franchises like the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys. They are a brand with annual revenues over $500,000 million and an estimated net worth of almost $2 billion dollars.
There are anecdotal reports that claim the 1920-31 logo using the crown was approved by Spain’s King Alfonso XIII back in 1920. It disappeared from the uniforms from 1931-1941. After the Spanish Civil War ended, the crown returned and has been present on the team’s logos and uniforms for the past 71 years.
Yahoo’s Brook Peck referred to the removal of the cross as a “small, but deliberate change.”
Deliberate? That’s a good word for it. Some are pushing the change as “good business” while others say that it smacks of religious intolerance and censorship.
The cross remains on Real Madrid’s logo everywhere else. It is only removed from the logos in the new theme park being built in the UAE.
You have to wonder, is there a concern that a tiny cross atop the crown might keep non-Christians away from the park’s amazing, waterfront stadium, gift shops, museum, hotel, and amusement park?
Source
Pandering to Muslims again. They could easily tell the UAE to stick it if they wanted to.
Leftist hate speech extends to one-another
They're just full of it. This is just mild stuff compared to the icepick in the head that Trotsky got from Stalin but it shows how basic hate is to them"Politics can be an ugly “sport.” On Thursday, this point was proven when the Democratic contest surrounding Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seat became so heated that Lee Whitnum, one of the lesser-known contenders, called opponent Congressman Chris Murphy a “whore.”
During a live, televised debate, Whitnum unleashed on her opponent, taking particular aim at his pro-Israel stance.
“I’m dealing with a whore here who sells his soul to AIPAC [The American Israel Public Affairs Committee], who will say anything for the job,” she said.
Whitnum also called opponent William Tong, a Connecticut state representative, “ignorant” during her tirade, which was part of the debate’s closing statements.
Murphy responded, saying, “I’ve advocated for the candidates to be part of these debates. I might think twice about that with that kind of awful language being used on the airwaves.”
Here’s how the Associated Press described the incident that unfolded at the Democratic debate:Murphy, former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, state Rep. William Tong and Matthew Oakes each expressed disgust over the comments made by Lee Whitnum, a vocal critic of U.S. aid to Israel…
The five are vying for the party’s endorsement and ultimately to fill the seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent.
Oakes, another lesser known candidate, said he doesn’t believe Whitnum should be allowed to participate in future debates. The next one is scheduled for Monday at the University of Connecticut.
“And I was the one that spoke out loudest about including all the candidates,” he said. “The fact that she just attempted to ruin the good that I was trying to do is offensive to me. … I can’t in all good conscience say, `Well include us in the debates, all of us,” if she’s going to be that offensive.”
More HERE
9 April, 2012
Breast censorship
We read:
"Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt's breasts have been digitally reduced for US magazines.
The Ghost Whisperer star plays a high-class escort in the new Lifetime show The Client List and posed in trailers wearing a black satin dressing gown open to reveal a black plunge bra.
But editors of Entertainment Weekly felt her cleavage was too much excitement for its readers and decide to digitally reduced her breast size and cover them up with additions to her gown.
In The Client List, the actress plays a mother of three who turns to prostitution when her husband loses his job and they face losing their home to foreclosure.
Source
Some things must not be put into words
Even if just about everyone does it: "White flight", anyone?
"A conservative writer in US has come under fire for urging white and Asian parents to shield their children from contact with black Americans they don't know.
John Derbyshire, a columnist for one of US's most influential magazines, the National Review, wrote a piece outlining the "talk" all non-black parents should have with their kids in response to a number of articles offering black parents advice on how to discuss with their children the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin.
Derbyshire advises white and Asian parents to keep their kids from black neighbourhoods and events where there a lot of black people present and avoid living in areas run by black politicians. He even suggests they should tell their children to avoid helping black people in distress.
"If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving ... If you are white or Asian and have kids, you owe it to them to give them some version of the talk. It will save them a lot of time and trouble spent figuring things out for themselves. It may save their lives," he writes in the right-wing Taki's Magazine.
The piece triggered a furious reaction in the US, with many attacking it as a "disgusting rant" and calling on the National Review to fire Derbyshire.
Source
With violent crime by blacks at 9 times white levels this advice is realism, not racism. When black crime declines to white levels, then such advice will not be needed. My son's best friend has a small amount of African ancestry but I have warned him to avoid Africans wherever possible out of safety concerns.
But National Review has now bowed down to political correctness and fired Derbyshire. Telling the truth can be toxic in America today.
8 April, 2012
Anti-Christian, Anti-Capitalist Messages OK
We read:
"If you’re a parent out on a clothing binge, you might want to beware – even clothing stores may have an agenda. Specifically, a brand known as “Obey Clothing,” which apparently stocks Urban Outfitters, among other department stores, has been marketing increasingly aggressive looking products to teens.
If the Soviet reminiscent art style looks familiar, it should – Obey Clothing is the brainchild of Shepard Fairey, the man responsible for the tongue-in-cheek “OBEY” poster featuring Andre the Giant.
And that’s not all Fairey is responsible for. Featured on the website for his clothing line is a section titled, ironically, “Propaganda.” It includes such ‘hopeful images’ as the following:
And just to repeat – these are not produced by some cut rate art house fashion outlet. The company that makes these gets stocked at Urban Outfitters and Nordstroms, among others. Would you want your kids coming home wearing any of these?
Source
More pix at link
Black bigotry OK?
We read:
"Former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry (D) made some indelicate remarks about Asians on Tuesday night while celebrating his win in the Democratic primary for the Ward 8 on the D.C. Council.
According to WRC-TV/NBC4, Barry made the remarks at his victory party, after his primary win, which almost certainly assures him a third four-year council term after the November general election, where Democrats dominate the local electorate.
“We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops,” Barry said. “They ought to go. I’m going to say that right now. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too.”
Barry, for his part, stood his ground, saying the media has blown his comments out of proportion
Source
He has of course been condemned by various people but his popularity among blacks seems to be undentable
7 April, 2012
Bottoms banned in Britain
We read:
"The American Apparel clothing chain has been warned against using exploitative images of women after a watchdog ruled a series of ads were likely to cause 'serious and widespread offence'.
Eight ads on the retailer’s website and in a free magazine in October showed women modelling knickers, socks and sweaters in various poses that exposed their breasts or buttocks.
One showed a woman arching her back towards the camera with her breasts exposed, others showed models lying face down or on their side revealing buttocks and breasts while more images were of models with their legs apart while on a bed.
One person complained that the images were pornographic, exploitative of women and inappropriately sexualised young women.
American Apparel rejected the complaint, saying the images featured 'real, non-airbrushed, everyday people', and that the vast majority of them were not professional models.
They said the images were the sort that people regularly shared with their friends on social networks and which normal people could relate to.
The retailer added that the women who featured in the images were clearly in their twenties, and emphasised that they were 'happy, relaxed and confident in expression and pose' and were not portrayed in a vulnerable, negative or exploitative manner.
Defending the campaign, American Apparel told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that it believed it was 'important to judge what was and was not offensive by reference to the current times and the views of the majority of decent and reasonable people, not a small and puritanically-minded minority'.
Upholding the complaint for all but one of the images, the ASA acknowledged ads for lingerie were reasonable to feature women in limited amounts of clothing, but the nature of the women’s poses meant that their breasts and buttocks were the focal points rather than the products.
The ASA said: 'We considered that in the particular context of images which featured nudity and sexually provocative poses, there was a voyeuristic and ‘amateurish’ quality to the images which served to heighten the impression that the ads were exploitative of women and inappropriately sexualised young women.
Source
NYC List of Banned Words Goes Public
Here's the full list of words that are banned from appearing on NYC school tests,
Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)
Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs
Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)
Bodily functions
Cancer (and other diseases)
Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)
Celebrities
Children dealing with serious issues
Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)
Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)
Crime
Death and disease
Divorce
Evolution
Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes
Gambling involving money
Halloween
Homelessness
Homes with swimming pools
Hunting
Junk food
In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge
Loss of employment
Nuclear weapons
Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)
Parapsychology
Politics
Pornography
Poverty
Rap Music
Religion
Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)
Rock-and-Roll music
Running away
Sex
Slavery
Terrorism
Television and video games (excessive use)
Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)
Vermin (rats and roaches)
Violence
War and bloodshed
Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)
Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.
Source
6 April, 2012
Man sues after being restricted from passing out Bibles at gay pride parade
We read:
"A man who has passed out Bibles at a Minnesota gay pride parade for years is suing after city officials restricted him from giving out the book at this year's event.
Brian Johnson, of Hayward, Wis., started handing out Bibles at the Twin Cities Pride Festival in 1995, and three years later, gave out the books in Minneapolis' Loring Park from a booth approved by parade organizers. But in recent years, the people behind the event, which draws as many as 300,000 people, have tried to oust him, first nixing his bid for a booth and then having him arrested in 2009.
"Johnson believes that the Bible is God's word and sets out a plan of salvation for all people," his attorney wrote in a 26-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court of Minnesota. "Johnson believes the Bible teaches that all people are sinners and therefore deserve God's wrath, but anyone can receive salvation by believing and trusting in Jesus Christ."
Johnson was arrested for trespassing at the event in 2009, the first year he was denied a booth. The charges were later dropped. In 2010, the board, which enforces regulations at the 42-acre public park, granted Johnson permission to hand out Bibles. The parade organizers went to federal court to seek an injunction, which was denied by District Judge John Tunheim.
Although Johnson and his family went to the 2010 event and handed out Bibles without incident, the city agency and parade organizers were focused on a suggestion Tunheim had offered in a footnote of his denial of the injunction. For 2011, they set up the "free speech zones" that Tunheim thought would be a reasonable suggestion and a "drop box" where people could place literature.
Johnson skipped last year's event, but went to federal court on Friday to file a suit he hopes will give him unrestricted access to this year's event.
Dot Belstler, executive director of Twin Cities Pride, said Johnson is free to attend the festival and "tell everyone that Jesus loves them." But she said Johnson will not be allowed to hand out Bibles outside of the designated zones during this year's event on June 23-24.
"He has said his goal is to get everyone to know Jesus [and] he is allowed to do that," Belstler said. "[But] it's really kind of a nuisance."
Source
These "Free speech zones" are a crock -- generally well away from anywhere that matters. No wonder he wants no part of that. The 1st amendment applies throughout the USA, not just in some dinky "zones"
Must not connect blacks and fried chicken
We read:
"Burger King has been accused of pushing racial stereotypes in its new ad campaign, which features movie and pop stars eating in Burger King restaurants.
The fast food chain, which is losing out to rivals, hired Salma Hayek, Jay Leno, David Beckham and Mary J. Blige to revive its fortunes.
The ads try to convince the public that famous people are just like them - and enjoy eating burgers and drinking milk-shakes in Burger King restaurants.
However, the Blige spot, in which the rapper gets on top of a Burger King table and sings: "Crispy chicken, fresh lettuce, three cheeses, ranch dressing, wrapped up in a tasty flour tortilla", has suffered a huge backlash.
Critics claim the ad plays into uncomfortable stereotypes by having a black woman sing about chicken.
In statement released after an uncomfortably long silence, Burger King said it pulled the ad due to a licensing issue and expected to have it back on air soon. It wouldn't comment on whether the ad would remain the same.
Source
I rather like fried chicken myself. So I must be black -- that's the level of logic involved
5 April, 2012
Anti-Troll or Censorship? AZ Law Would Criminalize Harsh Words on the Web
We read:
"An Arizona bill has passed in state legislature to make online bullying and some other speech an illegal and punishable offense, but it has opponents saying if made into law it would set a precedent that would lead to online censorship.
A local ABC News affiliate reports that the bill has not yet made it to the governor’s desk for a signature as it is “likely being reworked due to a public outcry.”
Arizona House Bill 2549 states:
“It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use a any electronic or digital device and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person.”
If it were to become law, violators could be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor. The punishment becomes more weighty — a Class 3 felony — if any sort of stalking is involved. Gizmodo explains these punishments could mean up to six months in jail and a $250,000 fine (Class 1 misdemeanor), or a minimum of 2.5 years up to 25 years in jail (Class 3 felony).
Opponents of the bill argue that the wording is overly broad and could easily be interpreted to include not just one-on-one communications but public forums like 4Chan, Reddit, and anywhere else that allows commenting.
H.B. 2549 is not limited to a one to one conversation between two specific people. The communication does not need to be repetitive or even unwanted. There is no requirement that the recipient or subject of the speech actually feel offended, annoyed or scared. Nor does the legislation make clear that the communication must be intended to offend or annoy the reader, the subject or even any specific person.
There is fear over where the line could be drawn for offensive words, such as satirical cartoons and political, economic or other cultural criticism.
Source
If it does become law, let's hope that it gets challenged immediately on 1st Amendment grounds
OK to mock conservatives
Fat jokes aimed at Chris Christie
Numerous media outlets have covered New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s first overseas trip to Israel. But among the many headlines, one distinguishes itself as particularly snarky and — offensive.
It’s no secret that Christie has struggled with his weight (he addressed the issue in an interview with Oprah Winfrey not long ago). In making numerous jabs about the governor’s visit to Israel and the Wailing Wall, in particular, The New York Post titled its story, “The Whale at the Wall.”
While many were consumed with questions surrounding what the trip would mean for Christie’s political career, it seems Carl Campanile of the Post, was more interested in penning quips about the governor’s weight. A look at the first two paragraphs of the story provides other corroboratory evidence:
"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a huge impression at Israel’s Western Wall yesterday during his first official overseas trip as head of the Garden State. Christie, wearing a yarmulke with his name and title embroidered on it, brought his political heft to the holiest Jewish site in Jerusalem, where he laid his hands on the rough-hewn stone, his eyes shut in prayer"
Also, let’s not forget the sub-header, which reads, “Christie weighs in at Israel holy site.”
Of course, the story did go on to provide pertinent information about the trip and the potential political impact it could have on Christie’s career moving forward. But one cannot help but wonder why numerous jabs about his weight were thrown into the article’s content and header, as it seems like an odd inclusion in a seemingly hard-news story.
Source
4 April, 2012
No free exercise of religion?
We read:
"A Tennessee Court of Appeals has held that a Shelby County mother must face criminal contempt-of-court charges and possible jail time for violating a court order and baptizing her two children, ages 5 and 7, without the knowledge or consent of her ex-husband.
Both parents are Christian. Mom is Presbyterian. Dad is Methodist. They fought during their marriage about stupid stuff like how old the kids should be for baptizing. Dad thought the children should be baptized when they are older and better able to understand the significance of the baptismal ceremony.
A lower court had already found the mother in contempt of court for violating its order not to baptize the kids without dad’s permission. "Obviously she knew that the father did not want the children baptized at that age and she did that without telling him," huffed one attorney. "She violated the court order."
Now daddy wants mommy convicted of criminal contempt after discovering that she baptized the kids against his wishes. The Court of Appeals decision sides with daddy, holding that criminal contempt proceedings are more appropriate because the mother can't undo the baptisms.
If the judges in this case had simply read the First Amendment they would have discovered that the whole dispute about baptism was none of their goddamned business. One need not be a legal expert to know that a court of law in the United States of America can’t order a mother to refrain from baptizing her own kids. It’s inconceivable. Under the court’s reasoning she might be found in contempt for praying with her kids against daddy’s wishes.
It’s not exactly like she was starving them or withholding medical treatment. She simply allowed a minister at her church to sprinkle some holy water on them while waiving his hands and mumbling a harmless ritual. If daddy doesn’t like it, he can surely repeat the process at his own church when the kids are older. I’m sure God won’t mind.
Source
Christians Arrested and prosecuted for Reading Bible Outside of DMV Last Year
We read:
"On Wednesday, a trial court in Riverside County, California, heard arguments why the prosecution’s case should be dismissed in the case of People v. Brett Coronado. Advocates for Faith & Freedom are defending Pastor Brett Coronado and Mark Mackey on misdemeanor charges after they were arrested in front of a California DMV while Mr. Mackey was reading the Bible out loud. The incident took place on February 2, 2011, in front of a group waiting for the DMV to open for business.
Both men have been spit on and threatened at other locations in the past when engaging in similar activities. As a result, it is their practice to video their evangelism to protect them from false accusations — just as appears to be occurring in this case.
Initially, when Mr. Mackey was arrested, the CHP officer stated that it was illegal to “preach to a captive audience.” After the defendants were placed in jail and upon learning that no such penal code prohibits preaching to a “captive audience,” the officer issued a citation for “impeding an open business” with threats or intimidation under Penal Code Section 602.1(b). However, the district attorney again changed the charges claiming trespass after the government realized the business was not actually open and, presumably, saw the video showing no threats or intimidation.
Unfortunately, the trial judge declined to dismiss the case. Advocates vows to appeal the decision because the trespass law the CHP is currently relying on is unconstitutional. In fact, other federal courts that have reviewed the same statutory language used in the California Penal Code have been declared unconstitutional.
“This is an abuse of power on the part of the CHP,” said Robert Tyler, Associate General Counsel for Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “The arresting officer could find no appropriate penal/ code to use when arresting these men. The purpose of the arrests appears to have been to censor them.”
Advocates for Faith & Freedom has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of these three men for violation of their right to free speech and for unlawful arrest, but that case has been stayed pending the resolution of the state court prosecution.
Source
3 April, 2012
Loudmouth Feminist Writer Slams Katy Perry Video Paying Tribute to Servicewomen as ‘Propaganda for the Marines’
So what?
Naomi Wolf, a prominent feminist writer who managed to get arrested during the Occupy Wall Street protests last year, has a new bone to pick; Katy Perry’s “Part of Me” music video. Why? Because it’s “a total piece of propaganda for the Marines.”
The video features Perry dressed and training as a Marine to celebrate female empowerment and an “affirmation of strength,” by paying particular tribute to service women.
The author of “The Beauty Myth” is not a fan and is calling for a boycott of the pop star. “I really want to find out if she was paid by them for making it,” Wolf wrote on her Facebook page. “It is truly shameful … I would suggest a boycott of this singer whom I really liked — if you are as offended as this glorification of violence as I am.”
Source
TN: Legislators push for legal public Ten Commandments displays
We read:
"To state Rep. Matthew Hill, his legislation authorizing local governments to display the Ten Commandments along with other historical documents is not about religion. It’s about history. ...
'We’re not talking about holding a church service. We’re not talking about having a Bible study at the courthouse,' said Hill, R-Jonesborough. 'What we’re talking about is remembering who we are, where we came from and not being ashamed of that.' But not everyone agrees."
Source
2 April, 2012
Vanderbilt U anti-Christian bigotry continuing
We read:
"The ruckus over Vanderbilt University’s "non-discrimination" policy and regulations that require campus Christian groups (among others) to allow non-believers to serve in leadership roles continues. This week, Vanderbilt Catholic, one of the largest faith clubs at the school, has announced that it will not comply with the newly-enforced rules.
The Catholic group’s decision will mean that, as of the end of the year, it will no longer be an official university group. Instead, it will serve as an off-campus ministry. The Rev. John Sims Baker, a chaplain at Vanderbilt Catholic, said on Tuesday that the group has been forced to make the rash decision to leave campus. It is the first Vanderbilt group to make such an announcement.
The dispute between Vanderbilt and religious groups began after a Christian fraternity expelled a gay member. That led the school to review the constitutions of all registered student groups to make sure they comply with the nondiscrimination policy.
The university published a written version of its policy as well as new guidelines for registered student groups in early March.
The main argument surrounds an “all-comers” policy, which means that all students should be allowed to be members of campus groups. Additionally, every individual, regardless of belief, should — according to Vanderbilt policy — have the opportunity to run for office.
While faith groups embrace the first portion of the rule, it is this second notion — that anyone can be a leader — that is drawing the ire of student-run organizations like Vanderbilt Catholic.
“The discriminatory non-discrimination policy at Vanderbilt University has forced our hand,” Baker said in a statement. “Our purpose has always been to share the Gospel and proudly to proclaim our Catholic faith. What other reason could there be for a Catholic organization at Vanderbilt?”
While Fortune is confident regarding this matter, others aren’t so sure that the rules make sense. First and foremost, the regulation would require Christian groups to allow non-Christians to lead Bible studies (pending elections).
In turn, it would essentially force gay rights groups to embrace leaders who disagree fervently with gay marriage and other ideals. In the end, the leadership portion of the non-discrimination continues to be the most controversial.
Source
Wis. Custodian Who Claims She Lost Her Job for Displaying ‘Stand With Walker’ Sign Speaks Out
We read:
"A high school custodian in Wisconsin who said she lost her job for having a pro-Gov. Scott Walker sign in her car said Friday she wants “liberal schoolteachers” to know they can’t “push” people around for having different opinions.
Mary Taylor was a custodian at Whitewater High School in southern Wisconsin. She claimed earlier this month she was fired by the private company that employs her over the “Stand with Walker” sign in her car. The Republican governor is facing a recall effort to oust him from office.
Taylor said during an appearance on Fox News her boss gave her two options: “She told me that I was to take the sign out of the back window and put it on the floor of the car or I could park across the street.”
“I have my rights to put signs in my car, I know that’s my right,” she said. “Of course I stand for Scott, for Scott Walker, so I felt that it was necessary for me to provide information for other people that I indeed do stand for Scott Walker.”
Pointing to the recall stickers on display on teachers’ cars at the school, Taylor said she refused to take the sign down and was fired as a result.
Now, she wants justice. "Justice for me is just to hopefully let people know that liberal school teachers and liberals in general cannot push the public around when they have different opinions other than theirs,” she said.
Source
1 April, 2012
Dirty minds?
Australia:
"A NEW McDonald's advertising billboard using a questionable double entendre has courted controversy on social networking sites.
The ad, promoting the fast-food chain’s discount Sausage McMuffin, uses the slogan “a price to make your sausage sizzle”.
While obviously hoping to play off the time-honoured Australian barbeque, the unfortunate catch-phrase has led to Facebook-users conjuring up slightly more risqué comparisons.
McDonald’s are expected to return calls about the public response to the campaign shortly.
Source
Connecticut condo owner told to remove Jewish religious ornament or face fines
This is blatant antisemitism. A Mezuzah is a small, inconspicuous thing. How is it going to "offend" anybody?
"A Connecticut condominium owner has been told by the complex's management association that she must remove a Jewish religious symbol or face fines, advocates told FoxNews.com.
Barbara Cadranel, an internationally-renown harpsichordist living in Stratford, Conn., contacted the Connecticut Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League earlier this month to report that she had been told by the California Condo Association to remove the mezuzah -- a small object inscribed with Hebrew verses from the Torah placed on the doorpost of a Jewish family's home -- or face fines of $50 per day, according to ADL's Connecticut Regional Director Gary Jones.
"It's pretty rare," Jones said of disputes between condominium association and owners involving mezuzot. "The obligation to place a mezuzah on the doorframe or doorpost is a right in the Bible. Jewish people everywhere, including those in condominiums, post a mezuzah as a reminder of their religious obligations."
Jones said Cadranel, 60, who could not be reached by FoxNews.com for comment Friday, has retained Nathan and Alyza Lewin of Lewin & Lewin, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that has notified the condominium association that its actions are in violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act.
According to an agreement with its condo owners, the display of items like Christmas wreaths and crosses on doors is allowed, but the display of other items such as mezuzah on doorposts is not, the Jewish Ledger reports.
Jim O'Neill, spokesman for the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, said his office had not received a complaint on the matter. "If she files a complaint, we'll certainly look into it," O'Neill told FoxNews.com.
Source
Posts from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
"HATE SPEECH" is free speech: The U.S. Supreme Court stated the general rule regarding protected speech in Texas v. Johnson (109 S.Ct. at 2544), when it held: "The government may not prohibit the verbal or nonverbal expression of an idea merely because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable." Federal courts have consistently followed this. Said Virginia federal district judge Claude Hilton: "The First Amendment does not recognize exceptions for bigotry, racism, and religious intolerance or ideas or matters some may deem trivial, vulgar or profane."
Even some advocacy of violence is protected by the 1st Amendment. In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that speech advocating violent illegal actions to bring about social change is protected by the First Amendment "except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."
The traditional advice about derogatory speech: "Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you". Apparently people today are not as emotionally robust as their ancestors were.
A phobia is an irrational fear, so the terms "Islamophobic" and "homophobic" embody a claim that the people so described are mentally ill. There is no evidence for either claim. Both terms are simply abuse masquerading as diagnoses and suggest that the person using them is engaged in propaganda rather than in any form of rational or objective discourse.
Leftists often pretend that any mention of race is "racist" -- unless they mention it, of course. But leaving such irrational propaganda aside, which statements really are racist? Can statements of fact about race be "racist"? Such statements are simply either true or false. The most sweeping possible definition of racism is that a racist statement is a statement that includes a negative value judgment of some race. Absent that, a statement is not racist, for all that Leftists might howl that it is. Facts cannot be racist so nor is the simple statement of them racist. Here is a statement that cannot therefore be racist by itself, though it could be false: "Blacks are on average much less intelligent than whites". If it is false and someone utters it, he could simply be mistaken or misinformed.
Whatever your definition of racism, however, a statement that simply mentions race is not thereby racist -- though one would think otherwise from American Presidential election campaigns. Is a statement that mentions dogs, "doggist" or a statement that mentions cats, "cattist"?
Was Abraham Lincoln a racist? "You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this be admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated. It is better for both, therefore, to be separated." -- Spoken at the White House to a group of black community leaders, August 14th, 1862
The spirit of liberty is "the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." and "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it." -- Judge Learned Hand
Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean
It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.
It seems a pity that the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus is now little known. Remember, wrote the Stoic thinker, "that foul words or blows in themselves are no outrage, but your judgment that they are so. So when any one makes you angry, know that it is your own thought that has angered you. Wherefore make it your endeavour not to let your impressions carry you away."
"Since therefore the knowledge and survey of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human virtue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with less danger, scout into the regions of sin and falsity than by reading all manner of tractates, and hearing all manner of reason?" -- English poet John Milton (1608-1674) in Areopagitica
Hate speech is verbal communication that induces anger due to the listener's inability to offer an intelligent response
Leftists can try to get you fired from your job over something that you said and that's not an attack on free speech. But if you just criticize something that they say, then that IS an attack on free speech
"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper
Why are Leftists always talking about hate? Because it fills their own hearts
Leftists don't have principles. How can they when "there is no such thing as right and wrong"? All they have is postures, pretend-principles that can be changed as easily as one changes one's shirt
When you have an argument with a Leftist, you are not really discussing the facts. You are threatening his self esteem. Which is why the normal Leftist response to challenge is mere abuse.
The naive scholar who searches for a consistent Leftist program will not find it. What there is consists only in the negation of the present.
The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) could have been speaking of much that goes on today when he said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
