Tongue Tied 3

Town-hall clash! Cop vs. Obama 'Joker' poster

We read:

"This used to be America," argued a protester outside a health-care town hall meeting in Reston, Va., after a police officer threatened him with arrest for holding up a sign with a picture critical of Barack Obama.

The officer's response? "It ain't no more, OK?"

A video of the town hall held earlier this week by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., shows an unnamed protester standing on school grounds carrying a sign that read "Organizing for National Socialist Health Care – The Final Solution" and depicted Barack Obama in the Joker's makeup.

Officer Wesley Cheeks Jr. then told the protester that even though others were holding signs, his sign was unacceptable because of the depiction of Obama.

Source

Woman accused of contempt for dinner blessing

We read:

"A Florida school district worker whose husband read a prayer at a private banquet has been cleared of contempt accusations brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The case arose after the Santa Rosa County School District in January agreed to eliminate all religious activity, including prayer, at school-sanctioned events. However, district worker Michelle Winkler was at a private banquet held at a Naval base to honor non-instructional school district employees and her husband read a brief blessing prior to the meal, according to reports of the case.

The ACLU alleged that subjected her to contempt charges.

Winkler, a clerical assistant for the district who was represented by Liberty Counsel's Senior Litigation Counsel Horatio Mihet and David Corry, was examined during a recent seven-hour hearing in federal court. Eventually, District Judge Casey Rodgers found that Winkler's husband's prayer at a voluntary gathering outside of school did not violate any court order.

Liberty Counsel founder Mathew D. Staver expressed relief over the victory but frustration over the ACLU's actions. "The wheels came off the ACLU's steamroller. While we are pleased with the ruling, we are saddened that a wonderful woman had to spend a day in court, with the ACLU's crosshairs aimed at her back. Prayer is neither contemptuous nor criminal. It is outrageous that the ACLU sought civil contempt charges against an outstanding woman whose husband prayed a beautiful prayer at a privately sponsored event held off campus. The ACLU needs to take a good dose of the First Amendment and call us in the morning," he said.

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Black Group Comes Out In Support Of Glenn Beck

We read:

"LOS ANGELES—BOND Action, Inc., a national cultural action organization, has come out in support of FOX News Channel broadcaster Glenn Beck. Beck has been under attack from the radical left-wing group ColorOfChange.org after he said last month that he believes President Obama is “a racist.” ColorOfChange.org was founded by Van Jones; a self-described “rowdy black nationalist.” Jones now serves as White House environmental advisor (“green jobs czar”). So far advertisers including Geico, Ally Bank, and Sargento Cheese have been intimidated into pulling ads off The Glenn Beck Show. “BOND Action, Inc., will be working to expose the source behind the boycott and counter it,” said Founder and President, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson.

“Glenn Beck is right, Obama is a racist! ” added Rev. Peterson. “Where were the boycotts and outraged activists when President George W. Bush was being falsely maligned as a ‘racist’? This is a blatant double standard. This boycott is an attempt to silence Beck from continuing his expose’ of Barack Obama’s socialist agenda and his radical ‘green jobs czar’ Van Jones.”

ColorOfChange.org claims some 33 advertisers have pulled their ads off The Glenn Beck Show, but that number is reportedly exaggerated. ColorOfChange.org has a checkered past. The group reportedly endorsed outrageous statements by rapper Kanye West that former President Bush gave troops permission to go to New Orleans and shoot black people during Hurricane Katrina. Beck’s television program draws more than 2 million viewers and BOND Action, Inc., is calling on advertisers not to cave in to pressure.

Rev. Peterson said, “ColorOfChange.org claims that it exists to ‘strengthen Black America’s political voice’—but it’s clear that they are a left-wing, racist political group that deal in lies. This attempt to silence Beck is an attack on free speech and must be countered.”

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Florida Students Sent Home After Wearing 'Islam Is of the Devil' Shirts



We read:

"A handful of students were sent home from Florida schools this week after showing up in shirts proclaiming that "Islam is of the Devil," part of a fiery church campaign to "expose" Islam as a religion of violence.

Three high schoolers were forced to leave Tuesday for wearing the shirts made by the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., where school officials say violated the district's dress codes. A middle schooler was also asked to change clothes because of the shirt, which got a 10-year-old fifth grader sent packing on Monday, when the incidents began.

"Students have a right of free speech, and we have allowed students to come to school wearing clothes with messages," school district staff attorney told the Gainesville Sun. "But this message is a divisive message that is likely to offend students. Principals, I feel reasonably, have deemed that a violation of the dress code."

Source

So messages must not be "divisive"? And must not offend? Can't find those bits in the 1st Amendment. And Muslims can call America "The Great Satan", of course

Some amusing reactions from Poland

We read:

"In the wake of the unfortunate race-swap decapitation performed by unknown persons on an image used on Microsoft's Web site in Poland, I thought I'd wander over to the Polish press and see what it might have to say on the subject.

You see, we spoke Polish at home. And, well, I wondered whether the coverage in the country of my blood might indeed differ in any way from that in the U.S. Some Polish papers, like the rather energetic tabloid Super Express seem not have to made much of the story.

The more serious Dziennik pointed to critics who suggested that at least Microsoft "left the Poles an Asian." Dziennik also pointed to the Web site of the Medical University of Lublin which, while having two white professors on its Polish language site, introduced a black professor on its English language version.

Perhaps the most influential national daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, had its say Wednesday in an article entitled "The Black Hand of Microsoft." Gazeta Wyborcza opted for a less than sympathetic tone. "The black man's face was removed digitally," wrote the paper, "but they forgot about his hand."

While saying that Microsoft's Polish operation was not commenting at all on the issue, Gazeta Wyborcza made much of the suggestion that the laptop in the shot may actually be a barely anonymized Apple model and that the monitor on the table doesn't seem to be connected to anything. The paper even quoted Vijay, a commenter from the PhotoshopDisasters blog, who wrote: "The white head and black hand actually symbolise (sic) interracial harmony."

Source

UCLA Drops Threats Against Internet Speech

In the usual Leftist way, UCLA can't take criticism:

"Wilde launched the website ucla-weeding101.info last month to argue that he was "weeded out" of UCLA's Graduate School of Education for his dissenting views. On August 6, UCLA Senior Campus Counsel Patricia M. Jasper sent Wilde a letter arguing that the domain name constituted "trademark infringement and dilution" and suggested the website might be a criminal offense under the California Education Code. Jasper also wrote that UCLA was acting in part to protect its "reputation" and ordered Wilde to shut down the site by August 17.

FIRE immediately wrote UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block, pointing out that no reasonable person would mistake Wilde's site as being an official UCLA site or having the college's endorsement, and that the First Amendment protects the use of organization names on "cybergriping" sites. Further, although a disclaimer for such an obviously unaffiliated site is legally unnecessary, the site now contains a prominent statement explicitly alerting readers that the site is "not supported, endorsed, or authorized by UCLA or the University of California."

On August 18, Jasper notified FIRE that FIRE's letter was under review and that she "anticipate[d] having a fuller response ... in the very near future." Yesterday, FIRE took the case public, and within hours Jasper faxed FIRE to say that, while the university would appreciate more changes to the site, "[i]n any event, the University hereby withdraws the demands made upon Mr. Wilde in our letter to him of August 6, 2009."

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If Leftists had to put up with the torrent of abuse and criticism that Christians get, they would dissolve into blubbering cot-cases

Leftists putting out fake-hate again?

Leftists have a long history of creating fake hate incidents and fake hate-speech and attributing it to conservatives. This time it looks like they got caught red-handed. There have been quite a few prior examples of such fakery noted on this blog. See here, for instance. Real hate speech is so rare among white conservatives that blacks and Leftists have to make it up from time to time.

"One of two people suspected of shattering 11 windows Tuesday morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters has an arrest record and a history of helping a Democratic political candidate, public records show.

Police said that about 2:20 a.m., 24-year-old Maurice Schwenkler, now in custody, and an at-large accomplice took a hammer to the picture windows displaying posters touting President Barack Obama and his health care reform efforts.

Early Tuesday, Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak said the damage to her building in Denver's art district was a consequence of "an effort on the other side to stir up hate." She tempered her statement after Schwenkler's political history was revealed.

Balmer said he suspects the vandalism might have been aimed at making the GOP look bad. "This sounds like the type of Democratic tactic from the left fringe trying to make Republicans look mean-spirited," Balmer said. "In this case, it blew up in their face. He was caught red-handed." Schwenkler allegedly tried to conceal his identity while committing the crime by wearing a shirt over his face, a hooded sweat shirt and latex gloves, according to police descriptions.

When a Denver police officer on patrol spotted two people smashing windows, the suspects fled on bicycles. Schwenkler was arrested after a short foot pursuit, but the other suspect sped away, police Detective Vicki Ferrari said.

Source

TinTin under attack again



We read:

"Brooklyn's chief librarian has yanked a nearly 80-year-old book from the shelves because it depicts Africans as monkeys. Tintin Au Congo is the only book in the city library system hidden from public view after a reader complained that it was "racially offensive."

The popular Belgian children's work - due to be made into a movie by Steven Spielberg - is locked behind a series of hidden doors on the third floor of Brooklyn's central library. "'Tintin au Congo' was relocated," said director Richard Reyes-Gavilan. It "had illustrations that were racially offensive and inappropriate for children."

Donna Lieberman, head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, blasted librarians "for taking the easy way out" and not considering the "long term in engaging in censorship."

Source

Ireland's new blasphemy law

We read:

"The Irish government plans to bring into force a new law in October that critics say is a return to medieval justice. The legislation, aimed at providing judges with clear direction on the 1937 Constitution's blasphemy prohibition, imposes a fine of up to 25,000 euros - about $39,000 - for anyone who "publishes or utters matter that is (intentionally meant to be) grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion."

Police with a search warrant will be able to enter private premises and use "reasonable force" to obtain incriminating evidence.

The initiative has stunned some Irish and international commentators who say it contradicts Ireland's recent emergence as a more multicultural, tech-savvy country that has in recent years showed its independence from the Roman Catholic church by liberalizing its divorce law

Source

Hah! It's clear from the way the law is worded that it's Muslims, not Catholics who are being placated.

Microsoft Edits Black Man Out of Photo, Apologizes



We read:

"Software giant Microsoft Corp. is apologizing for altering a photo on its Web site to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture.

A photo on the Seattle-based company's U.S. Web site shows two men, one Asian and one black, and a white woman seated at a conference room table. But on the Web site of Microsoft's Polish business unit, the black man's head has been replaced with that of a white man. The color of his hand remains unchanged.

The photo editing sparked criticism online. Some bloggers said Poland's ethnic homogeneity may have played a role in changing the photo.

"We are looking into the details of this situation," Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos said in a statement Tuesday. "We apologize and are in the process of pulling down the image."

Source

I wonder where the law is that says you must not delete pictures of blacks? Poland is probably the "whitest" country there is so a judgment that a picture of a black man might not appeal to Poles is understandable. Jesus Christ is almost always pictured as a thin pale-skinned blond blue-eyed Northern European when he was almost certainly a short swarthy Middle Eastern man with curly black hair and dark eyes. People identify best with scenes and images that are familiar to them and getting people to identify with the scene in an advertisement is part of selling.

But it has of course been taken as an insult to blacks to assume that images of them might not appeal to Poles. Images of old people don't seem to appeal to anyone very much either, but old people are generally mature enough to handle that. The Leftists behind this protest are assuming that blacks are not mature enough to handle the possibility that Poles might prefer to look at people like themselves. That does not show much respect for the maturity of blacks.

A Communist-sympathizing Obama apparatchik is behind the attack on Glenn Beck

We read:

"Is Glenn Beck finished?" is the headline over an article on a left-wing website, insisting that a campaign against Beck's Fox News Channel program has cost him 36 advertisers and that his show may be cancelled as a result. The campaign against Beck is being waged by a group called Color of Change, whose co-founder, Van Jones, is now Obama's green-jobs czar.

Not coincidentally, Beck has repeatedly singled out Van Jones for criticism, citing evidence of his communist past. The source of this evidence is New Zealand blogger Trevor Loudon, the same researcher who originally unearthed the fact that Obama's mysterious mentor "Frank" in Obama's book Dreams from My Father was Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis. We confirmed that identification with a separate source and ran with the story last year, even obtaining the 600-page FBI file on Davis. It also came out that Davis was a sex pervert, doper, and pornographer.

Trevor Loudon, who deserves far more credit than he gets for smoking out the communists in and around the Obama Administration, broke the Van Jones story back on April 6 and has run several follow-ups. Among other things, he revealed that Jones was a leading member of a Marxist organization known by the acronym STORM, which means Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement. A 96-page history of the organization mentions how several STORM members had traveled to Cuba in the summer of 1999 as part of the Venceremos Brigade. This is the group that was originally sponsored by the Castro regime and the Weather Underground.

It seems clear that Jones has undergone, with powerful sponsors and benefactors, an extreme makeover. Beck, to his credit, is trying to peel away the protective cover. He needs our support to remain on the air and pursue this story. The trail will most certainly lead beyond Jones himself.

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Fonts

I asked for comments about the larger font I have started using on my two new sites: Political Correctness Watch and Eye on Britain. Most people liked the larger font but those who did not seemed to dislike it mainly because it made a narrow column slow to scroll through. I have therefore changed the template on both blogs to the one with the widest main columns available for the site. I think that should go closer to suiting everybody. Sadly, though, in both cases, the wide column templates had no colour whatevever! I am hoping that someone who knows their way around templates a bit better than I do might eventually tell me how to change them into my usual green and yellow pattern.

Must not say blindness is a handicap??

Regarding Democrat NY governor Paterson who is both blind and black and whom the Democrats are trying to get rid of. Schwartz is a Pateron aide:

"Schwartz didn't comment on Gaspard's call yesterday but ripped into Staten Island Democratic state Sen. Diane Savino, who said Paterson's blindness may make it difficult for him to be an effective governor - especially in a digital age.

Schwartz called the comments "insensitive and totally inappropriate" and said "Diane Savino owes a public apology to Gov. Paterson ... [and] every visually impaired New Yorker."

Source

Paterson appears to have got the job as deputy governor as a "token black" but when Eliot Spitzer imploded over his wandering penis, Paterson became top dog. His public approval ratings as governor are in the basement however and Democrats know that they will lose with him as the candidate in the next gubernatorial election.

Must not call a Lebanese a terrorist?



Many Lebanese are Muslims but I don't know if this guy is. I guess he does look terrifying so I can understand the description:

"After getting booted from Big Brother 11 on Aug. 15, Chime Simone is not giving any interviews to the press, but she did issue one statement on Wednesday. Since she remains under contract with CBS, the network apparently approved her request to send an apology for a remark she made on the show to hollyscoop.com, a celebrity gossip site that previously employed Simone as a freelance journalist.

According to one source, the site had been receiving protest emails because of Simone’s behavior in the BB house — specifically when she called fellow houseguest Russell Kairouz [pic above], a Lebanese-American, “a terrorist.” Simone made the comment after Russell had repeatedly yelled at her and other houseguests. “I used a phrase that was insensitive given his Middle Eastern descent, and I apologize to all who are justifiably offended with my use of that racially charged term,” Simone wrote in an e-mail to the website. But she fell short of apologizing to Kairouz. “Russell constantly demoralized many of us on a consistent basis and his conduct was alarming, daunting and terrifying,” Simone wrote."

Source

You can of course call Christians "Taleban" all you like.

Font size

I have moved to a larger font for my new Political Correctness Watch site and my new Eye on Britain site.

I would be interested if anyone has any strong feelings about it being now too large, just right etc.

No free speech for Lou Dobbs?

I certainly don't always agree with Lou Dobbs but ....

"One campaign is a petition to call upon CNN head John Klein to fire Lou Dobbs for his repeated displays of anti-immigrant/anti-Mexican propaganda and for his equally racially divisive and inflammatory pot-stirring insistence that President Obama is not an American citizen.

Freedom of speech is one thing, hate speech is another. Intentionally inciting hatred and fanning the flames of racial division is a dangerous, destructive practice that does nothing to bring about productive, candid, honest dialogue about race this country desperately needs right now. These actions are completely unacceptable from someone who claims to be a journalist working for a mainstream news organization like CNN that claims to be “America’s most trusted name in news.”

Dobbs has been stoking the flames of racial fear and paranoia for far too long, and he, along with CNN, must finally be held accountable for it. If Dobbs wishes to continue along those lines then let him continue at Fox News where that kind of behavior is expected and where barely veiled and often blatant racism, sexism, homophobia and hatred is the order of the day.

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Lots of Leftists seem to display the sort of compartmentalized thinking that often characterizes madmen. The writer above says that "candid, honest dialogue about race" is desperately needed but then rules out allowing one of the most candid, honest speakers from being heard. She wants a MONOLOGUE of Leftist pieties, not a DIALOGUE of any kind. It appears that when Leftists propose a dialogue they mean it as nothing more than an opportunity for others to agree with them. I suspect that they actually NEED everyone to agree with them. They know that they are denying half of reality and need universal agreement to save them from confronting that. They can't AFFORD for there to be free speech.

There's one man in Britain who gets away with saying what he thinks



Being 88 probably helps

"Prince Philip has never been shy about expressing his opinions on a huge range of subjects – often with cringe-making results. But now he appears to have put his foot in it again, over his views on goatee beards.

At a recent Buckingham Palace garden party, the gaffe-prone Royal was chatting to a guest and struck up conversation by asking what he did for a living. The man, one of 8,000 guests hoping to meet the Queen and other members of the Royal Family, replied: ‘I’m a designer, sir.’

The 88-year-old Prince is said to have replied: ‘Well, you didn’t design your beard too well, did you?’ The remark, made at a garden party on July 21, left the guest speechless but his embarrassment didn’t end there. The Duke of Edinburgh – who wore a beard as a young man – was then overheard saying: ‘You really must try better with your beard.’

Source

I suspect that the Prince found "designer" to be a pretentious self-description. I would. A designer of what? Rocket ships?

More official speech bans in Britain

We read:

"It could be construed as a black day for the English language — but not if you work in the public sector. Dozens of quangos and taxpayer-funded organisations have ordered a purge of common words and phrases so as not to cause offence.

Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp out racism and sexism are “whiter than white”, “gentleman’s agreement”, “black mark” and “right-hand man”.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has advised staff to replace the phrase “black day” with “miserable day”, according to documents released under freedom of information rules. It points out that certain words carry with them a “hierarchical valuation of skin colour”. The commission even urges employees to be mindful of the term “ethnic minority” because it can imply “something smaller and less important”.

The National Gallery in London believes that the phrase “gentleman’s agreement” is potentially offensive to women and suggests that staff should replace it with “unwritten agreement” or “an agreement based on trust” instead. The term “right-hand man” is also considered taboo by the gallery, with “second in command” being deemed more suitable.

Many institutions have urged their workforce to be mindful of “gender bias” in language. The Learning and Skills Council wants staff to “perfect” their brief rather than “master” it, while the Newcastle University has singled out the phrase “master bedroom” as being problematic.

Advice issued by the South West Regional Development Agency states: “Terms such as ‘black sheep of the family’, ‘black looks’ and ‘black mark’ have no direct link to skin colour but potentially serve to reinforce a negative view of all things black. Equally, certain terms imply a negative image of ‘black’ by reinforcing the positive aspects of white. “For example, in the context of being above suspicion, the phrase ‘whiter than white’ is often used. Purer than pure or cleaner than clean are alternatives which do not infer that anything other than white should be regarded with suspicion.”

Source

Britain: Must not disparage nudists?

We read:

"Harriet Harman [One of Britain's extreme Left politicians] is set to embrace yet another minority group who claim to be victims of discrimination – naturists.

The Government Equalities Office, which is overseen by Labour’s deputy leader, is promoting claims that devotees of skinny dipping and nudist campsites suffer prejudice equivalent to that experienced by gays, ethnic minorities and the elderly.

A submission written by British Naturism has been included in a review into discrimination. “Naturists encounter prejudice in employment,” it reads.

“This is a particular problem for people in the caring professions and education. Any occupation requiring an enhanced Criminal Record Bureau check is potentially a serious problem.”

Source

Once again: Bush=Hitler OK; Obama=Hitler not OK

We read:

"In the wake of this week's beating of a black fisherman in an apparent hate crime, a leader of the Jewish community says hate speech becoming more acceptable. Speaking at a City Hall news conference with Mayor Sheila Dixon and clergy leaders on the beating of James Privitt, Art Abramson said that he's heard hate speech at the recent town meetings on health care reform..

The executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council said he is bothered by comparisons of various health care reform plans to Nazi atrocities. "Identifying this health care plan as a Nazi like plan shows how quickly we are accepting out there these comparisons...comparisons that are wrong as these people have no idea of what happens when we begin to see Nazi like plans," Abramson said.

Abramson says as hate speech becomes more acceptable in conversation, incidents like this week's beating will increase.

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One might note that Mr Abramson is the author of a site that includes an entry about "How Bush's Grandfather Helped Hitler's Rise to Power" -- so connecting Bush to Nazism is obviously fine by him. Shame on you for your hate-speech, Mr Abramson!

"Radio Speech Is Not Free Speech" (??)

Hitler would agree with the little Nazi lady writing below. Hitler used his control over German radio to great effect:

"On August 11, 2009, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in a unanimous vote became the first elected body in the United States to stand up to Hate Radio. Their resolution urges "the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a comprehensive investigation on hate speech in the media, allowing public participation via public hearings, and asks the NTIA to update its 1993 report on the Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes."

For two years, San Francisco's Hispanic/Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition has been trying to get some traction on this issue. They've staged rallies against Michael Savage worked with the Media Alliance, Common Cause, and Broadcast Blues to protest hate radio, and supported the National Hispanic Media Coaltion's campaign to convince the FCC and NTIA to act. But HLADC leader Aurora Grajedas saw she could better affect national change by working with her own city's board of supervisors. Acting locally is a good lesson for all activists.

Still, there is resistance to any such study, as opponents charge these groups are trying to shut down the First Amendment. But let us be clear, Radio Speech is not Free Speech. I will stand by Glenn Beck's right to stand on the street corner and say illegal immigrants should be made into a new fuel called "Mexinol." I may not like it, but I stand by his right to say it. But there is a difference between shouting on the street corner and broadcasting all over the country. [There certainly is a difference but being different does not make something wrong -- though I guess Leftists think it does. Ever since Hegel, they have wanted to convert us all into ants in an anthill]

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The specially protected status of homosexuals is acknowledged in Minnesota



We read:

"Serving some 40,500 students and 248,000 residents living in 13 communities, Anoka-Hennepin School District’s 2,700 teachers tackle huge assignments every school day. Well, one student says two of his teachers took it on themselves to add a little extra duty to their daily doings.

Alex Merritt [pic above] recently won a $25,000 settlement after reporting that while enrolled at the STEP school back in 2007-2008, two teachers harassed him with remarks about his perceived sexual orientation....

In the settlement negotiated with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, District 11 agreed to pay Merritt $25,000 and the two teachers, Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson, were reprimanded. Cleveland, a social studies teacher, was briefly reassigned, and placed on two-day unpaid suspension....

Details were unavailable regarding the disciplinary action taken regarding Filson, a law enforcement teacher.

Anoka-Hennepin denies any violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act and its settlement of this case “does not constitute an admission of any liability of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act or any other law or of any wrongdoing,” the Department of Human Rights Web site reported....

Settlement of the Merritt incident also directs District 11 to submit training materials related to student harassment, its complaint process and sexual orientation as a protected class for the department’s approval.

According to Olson, as has been the tradition for many years, all Anoka-Hennepin staff members go through harassment training when they are hired and principals revisit the anti-harassment policy with their employees and students every year.

Source

Apparently the student (pic above) is straight but effeminate in some way. We read here that "Cleveland was found to have made comments such as: "[His] fence swings both ways" and also that he had a "thing for older men". Filson allegedly said the student enjoyed wearing women's clothes." Fullest details of what was said here.

The boy does seem to have been mercilessly and quite unforgiveably taunted and harassed by his teachers. I would have thought that such cruel and unprofessional teachers should have been fired regardless of whether the harassment concerned homosexuality or not. The boy must have been extremely distressed. I just hope he eventually manages to get over it.

My son has always been a quiet, inactive, non-sporty but thinking type and he got rather harshly disparaged by his teacher in Grade 4 who didn't think he was robust enough in his attitudes and actions. I immediately raised the matter with the Head Teacher and it was appropriately dealt with. But they still lost a pupil over it. I sent him to a different school the next year and he has never looked back. He now has a degree with First Class Honours in Mathematics and is working with great enthusiasm on his Ph.D. in Mathematics. He also has a girlfriend and lots of friends. So I am rather amused at the stupid value-system of that Grade 4 teacher. One wonders where the father of the boy in the above matter was. But my son was in a private school so parents undoubtedly have more leverage there. All the more reason for school vouchers.

The most interesting thing for me about the above incident, though, is how do you get to be a protected species? Fatties are often disparaged. Should they be especially protected? And what about Christians? There seems to be open season on them. Surely they should be protected from derogatory comments too? Half of the political Left would be doing sensitivity training if that one were brought in!

But Orwell knew the Left well, being one of them, and his saying that "Some pigs are more equal than others" seems to be a permanent feature of Leftist thought. (H/T Interested Participant)

Boycotts can work both ways, Wal-Mart

We read:

"Wal-Mart has joined a handful of craven corporations caving to demands from the radical Left that they withdraw their advertising from Glenn Beck's Fox News program to protest what the repressive zealots view as unacceptable speech by the controversial cable host.

Beck's critics are four political activists with an outfit called ColorofChange.org. They are outraged that Beck called President Obama a "racist" with "an abiding hatred of white people." Is Beck correct? I have no idea, but he has a right to voice his opinion, just as the four people with ColorofChange have a right to theirs.

But this quartet beating the drums for repression aren't satisfied just to publicize their disagreement with Beck, they also want to silence him because, they claim, he is trying "to convince the American public that President Obama's agenda is about serving the needs of Black communities at White people's expense."

Beck's views are, according to ColorofChange.org, "repulsive, divisive and shouldn't be on the air." Funny, I don't recall that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression to everybody except those whose opinions the four members of ColorofChange.og find "repulsive and divisive."

There is more to be said later in this space on ColorofChange. For the moment, the focus here is on Wal-Mart, which has joined Geico, Men's Warehouse, Proctor & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, Sargento, and a few others in pulling advertising from Fox that might have been slated to run during Beck's 5 pm slot.

Shareholders in these corporate monuments to brainless marketing will be interested to know that Beck's audience is bigger than those watching all of his competitors on MSNBC, CNN, CNBC and HLN combined. Don't be surprised if those same shareholders also wonder who should be served first - the millions of potential customers watching Beck or the Potemkin creation of a former MoveOn.org organizer and his three cohorts.

My guess is that many among Beck's viewers - and millions more people who have never watched his show - would be outraged to know these corporations are aiding and abetting a vicious, hypocritical campaign to slander him by an outfit apparently created for just such a purpose. Many of these viewers will also want to know what they can do to help Beck.

I have a suggestion for them - Boycott Wal-Mart. Remind these corporate cop-outs that politically inspired boycotts can go both ways, but the economic consequences are likely to be far more devastating to those who depend on consumers whose political views span the ideological spectrum. Or, to put it more bluntly for the marketing geniuses in Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters, there are far more Americans who agree with Beck and/or simply love the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment than the anti-free speech comissars on the extreme fringe of the far Left who are trying to shut him up.

And, given the likely demographic overlap of Beck viewers and Wal-Mart shoppers, the monster Big Box store chain is the perfect target of a counter-boycott. Can you guess who is more likely to feel pain first - the cable news guy whose ratings are skyrocketing as Obama's plunge or Wal-Mart?

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Discrimination in the name of anti-discrimination

We read:

"Another day, another casualty in a conflict pitting equality and demographic diversity against free speech and diversity of opinion. ‘A Singapore law professor who was to teach a human rights course at New York University Law School this Fall has withdrawn after students protested what they called her anti-gay views,’ the New York Times reported recently. …

The trouble is that the petition opposing Dr Thio imagined her appointment as a violation of NYU’s ‘own policy of non-discrimination.’ In other words, gay students (and members of other historically disadvantaged groups) are said to suffer actual discrimination when the administration hires faculty members who argue against anti-discrimination laws.

This confusion of speech and action — of allowing advocacy of discrimination and actually engaging in it — is common in academia, where academic freedom is too often limited to the freedom to advance prevailing ideals of equality.”

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Mexican Leaders demand freedom of expression

We read:

"Billionaire businessman Carlos Slim joined academics and human rights advocates on Monday in demanding a renewed national commitment to a free press and an end to attacks on journalists. Declaring free speech as a fundamental human right, the group of 21 leaders signed a nine-page Commitment to Freedom of Expression, a detailed proposal for Mexico to provide the public with access to information, transparency in government activities and the right to safely report news.”

Source

Sounds good but I kinda doubt that anything will come of it

Google are at it again

A few minutes ago I put up my latest post on POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH and about 5 seconds after it went up I got a message saying that all future postings to it would be blocked on suspicion that it is a "spam blog".

As the blog has been much the same for years it's all very strange. I have requested a review of the block so it should in theory be back in action in the next day or two. Last time they blocked my GREENIE WATCH blog (for the THIRD time), they removed the block after 24 hours approx. so that was not too bad.

They do sometimes fail to act on review requests, however, and my original Obama Watch blog has never had its restrictions lifted despite many requests.

So if you cannot access any further posts on POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, just go to the mirror site instead.

Woman charged with harassment over suggestive post

We read:

"A Missouri woman is accused of cyberbullying for allegedly posting photos and personal information of a teenage girl on the "Casual Encounters" section of Craigslist after an Internet argument. Prosecutors said 40-year-old Elizabeth A. Thrasher posted the 17-year-old's picture, e-mail address and cell phone number on the Web site in a posting that suggested the girl was seeking a sexual encounter.

St. Charles County Lt. Craig McGuire said Tuesday that the victim is the daughter of Thrasher's ex-husband's girlfriend. The girl, who has not been named, received lewd messages and photographs from men she didn't know and contacted police.

Thrasher, of St. Peters, is the first person charged with felony harassment in St. Charles County under a law passed in Missouri after the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was the victim of an Internet hoax in a nearby community that drew international attention.

Source

I can't see any free speech protection here. It is akin to libel, which is certainly not protected

A name-change meant to deceive travellers

We read:

"A row erupted in Britain on Monday over the rebranding of Oxford Airport as London Oxford Airport - despite being 60 miles from the capital's centre. Officials said they hoped the rebranding of the airport at Kidlington near Oxford in southeast England would raise its international profile and attract more passengers.

But heritage campaigners slammed the rebranding as insulting, saying historic Oxford city, with its prestigious university, did not need to be seen as an offshoot of the British capital. "Good grief. Oxford is a great place in its own right and I find it insulting it is being considered just another offshoot of London," said Ros Weatherall, from the Oxford Civic Society. "Trying to make Oxford seem like a suburb of London is very misleading...

Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses in the area around Oxford, said it was a "good idea" which could benefit the whole region. "Oxford and Oxfordshire is a place in its own right but you're linking tourism and business and it's an excellent business opportunity," said Claire Prosser, the chamber's policy executive.

Eight airports currently use the capital's name including London Stansted Airport, which is about 40 miles from the capital and London Luton Airport, 35 miles away.

Source

There's only one airport in London: Heathrow. Thanks to a fast and frequent express rail connection to central London, Gatwick is also pretty convenient. Gatwick is 28 miles South of London. The train goes at about 100mph so it is a fun ride.

"Lil' Monkey" Doll Brings Racism to the Toy Aisle (?)

OK to call George Bush a chimp but ...

"Putting a cute baby and a cuddly monkey together can sometimes seem like a good marketing idea, but in today’s PC world, that pairing will get you fired.

Wholesale giant Costco had to pull thousands of its “Cuddle with Me” baby dolls because some parents thought the African-American plastic doll and the plush monkey she had as a pet was a bit racist, according to media reports. Probably more offensive was the cap on the baby’s head that read “lil’ monkey.”

According to the Costco website you can buy a black, Hispanic or Caucasian "Cuddle with Me" doll with a Panda bear. (We're not touching that one.)

Brass Key, the company that makes the toy, has apologized for the misunderstanding, saying the offensive meaning was not within their company's "realm of thinking." ...

A Costco spokesman said he regrets that the product offended anyone and the doll has been pulled from all stores. It took a complaint from a man who bought the doll in Greensboro, N.C. to get the racist ball rolling on this one. A chain letter soon followed that eventually reached Costco execs and the PC police.

Source

Americans have got to be on the alert to follow Leftist rules about race all the time. Lose focus once and you are in trouble.

Nazi slogans 'OK in English' says German court

Rather permissive for a German court:

"A Federal appeals court has ruled that people can be prosecuted for displaying Nazi slogans in Germany only if they are in the German language.

The Federal Court of Justice on Thursday overturned a lower court's ruling convicting a neo-Nazi of transporting a shipment of 100 T-shirts with the slogan, "Blood and Honour," written in English. The slogan is a direct translation of the German "Blut und Ehre," a motto of the Hitler Youth.

The display of Nazi symbols or slogans is forbidden in Germany, but the court ruled that the ban only applied to those written in the German language.

It sent the case back to the lower court and noted that the defendant could still be found guilty, because the shirts also carried banned Nazi symbols.

Source

This is a pity in a way. It would have been interesting to see how an English court ruled on the matter. But now the English will be to embarrassed to prosecute (I hope).

"Blacklisting" now a bad word in Britain

We read:

"The Citizens Advice service has banned staff from using the term ' blacklisting' over fears that it is offensive and 'fosters stereotypes'. The taxpayer- funded quango, which advises members of the public on consumer, legal and money issues, has instead replaced it with 'blocklisting' to avoid appearing 'prejudicial'.

The two terms are both used in IT to mean the same thing. They refer to what are effectively lists of computers or computer networks which have been identified as sending spam and enable mail servers to ban or flag up mail sent from them.

Emails to members of staff at the service say the move has been made to keep 'in line with aims and principles of the Citizens Advice service'. Critics branded it 'daft' and 'political correctness going over the top', but the Citizens Advice has refused to back down, even though critics say it renders everyday communications unintelligible...

The ban on blacklisting applies across the whole of Citizens Advice. A former volunteer said banning blacklisting was 'the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen' and has stopped helping at his local branch because of it. John Midgley, co-founder of the campaign against political correctness, said: 'This is just daft and another example of political correctness going over the top.'

Source

Nazis for Me, but Not for Thee

We read:

"It’s this week’s fashion on the left, and among such fashionably contemplative moderates as Mort Kondracke, to blast Rush Limbaugh for comparing Democrats to the Nazis. It’s no surprise that the Obama hardcores are misrepresenting the sequence and substance of events, but I would have hoped that Kondracke would at least have noted that Rush’s comparison — even if Kondracke thought it unwise — was neither gratuitous nor demagogic.

To recap, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, started this episode by comparing American citizens who oppose Obamacare to the Nazis and asserting that her political opponents were donning “swastikas.” (Sen. Barbara Boxer simultaneously ripped Obamacare dissenters for their Brooks Brothers suits — it’s not altogether clear where on the twill the swastika goes.) Pelosi’s tactic was the shopworn smear we on the right have dealt with for six decades. There is no conceivable substantive connection between opposition to Obamacare and German National Socialism — they are antithetical. By invoking the Nazis, Pelosi was patently slandering dissenters as racist thugs.

Rush responded, and the response did not smear Democrats. He repeatedly and explicitly qualified that no one was saying Obama was Hitler, that Pelosi was Goebbels, or that the Democrats were engaged in the genocidal barbarity of the Third Reich. The comparison he drew was a substantive one: between the Democrats’ proposal for socialized medicine and the German installation of socialized medicine beginning with Bismarck and reaching its shocking apotheosis with Hitler’s National Socialism. The point was to show that if Pelosi wanted to engage in Nazi comparisons, the health-care policies of Nazi Germany had far more in common with the health-care policies of the Democrats than with those of the conservative opposition, which wants health care kept private and reforms to be market-based.

Source

No Free speech for Lynndie England

We read:

"A Friday lecture at the Library of Congress by Lynndie England, one of the most recognizable figures of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, was scratched over safety concerns after opposition from library employees produced violent threats, the organizer said. In addition, organizer David Moore said he canceled the entire series of lectures on veterans' issues, saying free speech "is pretty well dead" because of the ability of a vocal few to make a public fuss.

Ms. England, a 26-year-old former Army Reservist, had been scheduled to discuss her authorized biography as part of the ongoing lecture series sponsored by the Library of Congress Professional Association, an employee group...

Mr. Moore, a German acquisitions specialist at the library, said he received several "vicious" e-mails and telephone calls threatening violence. After informing police and the library's inspector general of the threats, library President Angela Kinney called him Thursday evening to say the event would be canceled....

Mr. Moore declined to name the protesters, but a posting on the Small Wars Journal blog by a "Morris Davis," who says he is a Library of Congress employee, was particularly critical of Ms. England's scheduled appearance.

Source

Once again, no freedom for conservative speech

Relying on rational argument is not the Leftist way. Coercion is their bag. They can't debate so they try to silence those who disagree with them.

"Calls to boycott Whole Foods Market are growing louder and more sophisticated following a Wall Street Journal opinion article by the company's chief executive, John Mackey, in which he criticized President Obama's health care plan and offered his own alternative.

Mackey's article first prompted individuals to threaten taking their business elsewhere. But now the Progressive Review, an online alternative publication, is calling for a formal boycott, and campaigns are popping up all over, including on Facebook, a popular online social networking site.

Protesters are hoping a boycott will cut into the success of Whole Foods, the 10th largest food and drug store in the U.S., which reported sales of $1.8 billion for the last quarter, a 2 percent increase from the previous quarter....

Whole Foods pays 100 percent of the premiums, but not the deductibles, for all employees who work 30 hours or more per week, or about 89 percent of its workers, and gives each employee $1,800 per year in "health-care dollars" that can be used for health and wellness expenses, according to the article.

Among the recommendations he made: equalizing tax laws for health insurance benefits; repealing all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines; repealing government mandates regarding who they must cover; and enacting tort reform and Medicare reform....

Mackey's article appeared to be consistent with the views of dozens of doctors and business executives who have weighed in on the controversial bill. But Mackey's comments have drawn a much harsher reaction and is being compared to an "organized campaign to defeat a single payer health insurance system."

Yet Mackey did draw supporters as well on the forum who said they would start shopping at Whole Foods because of Mackey's article.

Source

The "objectionable" article by Mackey is here

Advertisers desert Beck in boycott over racism remark

We read:

"Advertisers have been caught in the crossfire over Barack Obama’s healthcare plan after Glenn Beck, a television presenter and radio host, accused the president on Fox News of being ‘a racist'. At least 10 advertisers, including Geico, the Berkshire Hathaway insurance company, and Procter & Gamble, the household products group, pulled advertising from Mr Beck’s show after a July 28 broadcast in which he described the president as having ‘a deep-seated hatred for white people.’

The advertisers’ exodus was prompted by liberal activist groups such as ColorOfChange.org , which highlighted their financial support for the programme and called on supporters to boycott their products.”

Source

I gather that most of the advertisers concerned were Left-leaning to start with. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway has been prominent in his support for Obama, for instance.

It might be rather fun if conservatives boycotted the same advertisers until they renewed their support for Beck. Whether you agree with the speech or not, there is a public interest in political speech not being restricted.

Man pleads guilty to racial threat using fake Facebook account

Just another example in a long tradition of Leftist fakery. There have been quite a few prior examples noted on this blog. See here, for instance. Real hate speech is so rare among white conservatives that blacks and Leftists have to make it up from time to time. It seems to give them an erection.

"An African-American man has pleaded guilty after being accused of impersonating a white supremacist in a fictitious Facebook account to make death threats against an African-American university student.

Dyron L. Hart, 20, of Poplarville, Mississippi, pleaded guilty Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt to one count of communicating threats in interstate commerce, according to a Department of Justice statement. Hart admitted creating the fictitious account in November, pretending to be a white supremacist outraged by the election of Barack Obama as the nation's first African-American president, the statement said.

He then transmitted a death threat via Facebook to an African-American student at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, saying he wanted to kill African-Americans because of Obama's election, according to the statement....

"This is an extremely odd case, a very unusual case," said U.S. Attorney Jim Letten of the Eastern District of Louisiana. "The contents of the messages were extremely troubling and provocative and very threatening."

Hart will face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced November 18, the statement said.

Source

Australia: Plan to change Punjab Place to Oak Tree Place attacked as racist

I don't suppose we are allowed to mention that some streets in Bombay which had had English names for centuries were given Hindi names instead a few decades back? OK to change English names to Indian ones but not OK to change Indian names to English ones?? OK for Indians to prefer Indian names but not OK for English-speaking people to prefer English names?

"A race row is brewing in the quiet cul-de-sac of Punjab Place at Logan in Queensland as 32 residents petition to change the street's Indian name. The retirement village at the centre of the stoush, south of Brisbane, is now considering a withdrawal of its application to the council, The Courier-Mail reports.

But yesterday residents said they still wanted the street renamed Oak Tree Place, after the Oak Tree Lifestyle Village that dominates a quarter of the streetscape. A 32-signature petition was submitted by village manager Dawn Ludlow to Cr Lynne Clarke, stating Oak Tree Place was a more suitable name for the street than Punjab - a northwest Indian state.

Residents outside the Boronia Heights village yesterday said they signed the petition because they felt Oak Tree was "prettier". "This isn't racist," resident Ron Edmonds said. "Oak Tree is just a nicer name." Further up the cul-de-sac, resident Annie Liu said Punjab was an "Indian name". "It is not against Indians but this is a beautiful street and Oak Tree is a beautiful name," she said. "Punjab isn't as much."

But Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin president Umesh Chandra said the request to rename the street was devastating. Given the controversy over attacks on Indian students in Australia, plans to remove an Indian street name would make relations worse...

SOURCE

Disgrace: Yale removes Mohammed cartoons from book about … Mohammed cartoons

We read:

"I’m tempted to call this unbelievable but that simply wouldn’t be true. In fact, the very first words of the Times’s piece are “It’s not all that surprising.” Not only do research universities purportedly devoted to free inquiry now censor primary sources in the interest of “safety,” but I’ve experienced it myself: Imagine, if you will, the absurdity of a panel discussion about images which the audience isn’t allowed to view. It’s come to that. This is the scholarship equivalent of Yale donning a burqa to suppress the temptations its immodesty might otherwise inspire in Muslim men. Good work, academia.

Yale University and Yale University Press consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous: The book, “The Cartoons That Shook the World,” should not include the 12 Danish drawings that originally appeared in September 2005. What’s more, they suggested that the Yale press also refrain from publishing any other illustrations of the prophet that were to be included, specifically, a drawing for a children’s book; an Ottoman print; and a sketch by the 19th-century artist Gustave Doré of Muhammad being tormented in Hell, an episode from Dante’s “Inferno” that has been depicted by Botticelli, Blake, Rodin and Dalí…

John Donatich, the director of Yale University Press, said by telephone that the decision was difficult, but the recommendation to withdraw the images, including the historical ones of Muhammad, was “overwhelming and unanimous.” The cartoons are freely available on the Internet and can be accurately described in words, Mr. Donatich said, so reprinting them could be interpreted easily as gratuitous.

He noted that he had been involved in publishing other controversial books — like “The King Never Smiles” by Paul M. Handley, a recent unauthorized biography of Thailand’s current monarch — and “I’ve never blinked.” But, he said, “when it came between that and blood on my hands, there was no question.”

Not only were the “expert” recommendations that Yale should suppress the images unanimous, but not a single person quoted in the story offers a full-throated defense of a university’s obligation not to sacrifice knowledge on the altar of totalitarianism.

Source

Free speech blocked in Tennessee school

We read:

"A federal judge ruled a Tennessee school’s ban on Confederate clothing was a reasonable attempt to prevent disruptions because of previous racial threats.

U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan threw out a former student’s free-speech lawsuit against the dress code at Anderson County High School and Anderson County Career Technical Center in a ruling Tuesday.

Tommy Defoe sued after he was sent home and then suspended for insubordination in 2006 for wearing a T-shirt and a belt buckle to school bearing the image of the Confederate battle flag. He said he wanted to display his pride in his Southern heritage. Others view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism and intolerance.

Varlan said Tommy Defoe’s free-speech rights to display the Confederate battle flag in 2006 were properly limited by school officials who “reasonably forecasted a material and substantial disruption to the school environment” if the clothing was permitted.

Source

So free speech was blocked because of something that MIGHT happen. By that standard all sorts of things could be blocked. When I get into my car I MIGHT hit someone with it so should I be banned from driving?

Bush=Hitler fine; Obama=Hitler an outrage



The double standard never stops. As it happens, conservatives have better reality contact than Democrats so the above poster was NOT the work of conservatives. It was the work of the eccentric LaRouche organization. And it was paraded about by DEMOCRATS! See here and here. The lapdog media, of course, attribute the poster to conservatives. Taranto has a riff on the matter.

Don’t Employers Deserve Free Speech?

We read:

"The debate over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is being reframed now that the notorious “card check” provision—which would have taken away the right to secret ballots on union representation—will be pulled from the bill. Business groups and members of Congress on the fence will now come under tremendous pressure to support the act, although equally objectionable provisions, such as mandatory arbitration, remain.

Yet there has been virtually no debate over the bill’s onerous and unprecedented penalties against employers who may fall afoul of vague National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rules as workers try to unionize. These penalties will stifle employer free speech. Would an employer be willing to inform employees about the potential downsides of unionization in the face of fines, treble damages, injunctions and costly litigation levied by EFCA?

Today, according to the National Labor Relations Act—as amended in 1947—employers are permitted to express themselves to their employees with “views, argument, or opinion . . . if such expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit.” Of course, this leaves unclear just what constitutes lawful opinion versus unlawful threats or promises. And over the years, the shifting composition of the NLRB—and of the courts—has caused disagreements over what permissible free speech is.

Under EFCA, employers would risk federal injunction litigation even before the labor board has considered whether there was a threat or promise. Based on union-filed unfair labor practice charges, if the board’s general counsel—one person—determines that there is “reasonable cause” to believe an employer threat or promise may have been made, EFCA requires the general counsel to seek an immediate federal court injunction.

Only much later, perhaps years later, after a costly trial, briefing and appeals will the NLRB and courts decide whether the statements were lawful and whether fines are to be imposed....

Faced with these draconian penalties, employers—particularly smaller employers—will be forced to remain silent. EFCA’s penalty provisions deserve careful scrutiny in light of statutory and constitutional free speech protections. Their net effect will be to deny free speech to employers and to deprive employees of the advantages of meaningful debate before they make important choices affecting their livelihood.

Source

German football song irks Muslims



We read:

"An anthem sung by fans of the German football club FC Schalke 04 has drawn protests from Muslims because of its reference to the Prophet Muhammad.

The Gelsenkirchen club, which plays in Germany's top league, the Bundesliga, has asked an Islam expert to consider whether the song might be insulting.

The third verse contains the words: "Muhammad was a prophet who understood nothing about football". "But of all the lovely colours he chose [Schalke's] blue and white," it goes.

The club has received hundreds of e-mails from angry Muslims recently, since Turkish media carried reports about the song.

Police in Gelsenkirchen, in the industrial Ruhr region of western Germany, say they are taking the Muslim complaints very seriously.

Source

"In God We Trust" incorrect?

We read:

"Officials in Kissimmee, Fla., blocked an effort to add "In God We Trust" to the city logo, saying the campaign brought too much negative attention -- but a city commissioner vows to fight it.

Commissioner Art Otero proposed the idea because he believes the country is becoming too liberal on issues including homosexuality, abortion and marijuana. Otero says he has plenty of support, and some residents may start a petition for a voter referendum.

The City Commission withdrew the possible change last week. Mayor Jim Swan said Otero's campaign brought "ridicule" on Kissimmee, and officials have received threats of boycotting local businesses and "future businesses looking elsewhere." Swan also said public employees have been deluged with distracting calls and comment on the issue.

Source

CNN refuses ad critical of health insurer

Very fishy. A corporate tie-up somewhere?

"At least they don’t call themselves “Fair and Balanced.” Days off refusing to run an ad spot criticizing its evening host Lou Dobbs, the cable network has now refused to run an ad criticizing a top health insurance executive who recently retired with a package worth some $70 million and was paid $12.2 million in total compensation last year. Why?

The ad “unnecessarily” “singles” out an individual company and person by name.

According to Washington Post Company blogger Greg Sargent, CNN wrote the labor-backed group Americans United for Change that, “This ad does not comply with our clearance guidelines because it unnecessarily singles out an individual company and person.”

The ad claims that, on average, Cigna CEO H. Edward Hanway makes $5,883 an hour. MSNBC, meanwhile, has said they’ll run the ad.

Source

I thought ALL ads "singled out" somebody or something! But aint competition wonderful? It's money in the pocket of MSNBC.

"Wicked Thoughts" has moved house

From the Wicked Thoughts mirror site:

OK. I have had enough of Google/blogspot. They have had my blogspot blog blocked for a week now and still have not told me why. So I am transferring operations to Wordpress. Whether they will be any better remains to be seen of course but this is the new site: Wicked Thoughts. Be sure to keep a bookmark to this mirror site, however, in case Wordpress go strange on me too.

One annoyance is that all my archives (past posts) are blocked at the moment too. I have therefore posted the July archive on this site. See below. All of my posts for this month are up on the new site so go there now and have a look.

The postings for July are here. I keep copies of everything I post so I may post archives for previous months in due course too.

Must not mention that many kitchenhands are illegals

We read:

"Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, is a funny guy. Or so he thinks. His jokes, though, are not making many people laugh. Take for example the one he told at a roast at Captain Bill's Restaurant in Bay Shore, L.I., last week.

Newsday reports that Levy asked someone in the audience, who happened to be a Canadian native, if he was a U.S. citizen. The man answered that he was, to which Levy is reported to have said that was good, because if he wasn't "I'd have to deport you, like the guys back there in the kitchen."

Isn't that funny? The "guys back there in the kitchen" must have been rolling with laughter. Especially because the jokester was the same person who in 2007 had asked county cops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to raid homes where illegal immigrants were believed to be living.

Source

The attack on humor

We read:

"Recently, Washington Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli canceled the web-series “Mouthpiece Theater” after its hosts made a joke about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Bowing to pressure from an obscure organization called Action in the Media, the Washington Post reinforced the notion that any potentially offensive humor must result in a swift apology, perhaps even in resignation or firing. But since when is it criminal behavior to tell a joke, let alone offend someone? In a country that cherishes freedom of speech, when did it become a requirement to prescreen jokes to meet the approval of every available demographic?

The notion that the only appropriate jokes are those pre-approved by special interest groups would be laughable if it wasn’t taken so seriously. In this most recent case, Dana Milbank, a columnist, and Chris Cillizza, a White House correspondent and blogger, lost their show after a woman’s group, Action and the Media, complained that one of their jokes was “sexist” and “tasteless.” What did Action and the Media think was so terribly offensive? On the latest webisode of “Mouthpiece Theater,” Milbank and Cillizza visually implied that President Obama would serve “Mad Bitch Beer” to Hillary Clinton during a discussion about Obama’s recent “beer summit.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the purpose of the joke was to be offensive. Most viewers probably groaned—chuckled—and then moved on. Not the ladies at Action and the Media. They took action immediately, making sure that Milbank and Cillizza would be properly punished for daring to associate the secretary of state with a vulgar term for female dogs. They are perfectly within their rights to be as outraged as they want to be, of course, but the Washington Post commentators did nothing to warrant the cancellation of their show and the removal of the particular webisode in question. They should not have apologized.

By apologizing, as so many others have done in similar situations, Milbank and Cillizza strengthened the armies of the humorless and marched us one step into the icy grasp of the thought police.

Source

Obama: Critics must be silent

We read:

"Yesterday, at a rally for R. Creigh Deeds in Virginia, President Obama said: "I don't want the folks who created the mess do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."

For Barack Obama, democracy appears to be a distraction. He really does seem to view himself as a Caesar.

Shortly after taking office, Obama held a meeting with governors. At the time, one person in the room relayed Obama's request that critics and skeptics of the stimulus plan keep their concerns to themselves. Just let me do it, was his attitude. He got pushback and he wasn't happy. He wanted democratically elected state governors to shut up so he could do as he pleased. He knows better and we should respect that, seems to be the attitude.

Source

Dangerous to call Obama a "Nagger"

We read:

"A racially charged sign that takes aim at President Barack Obama is raising eyebrows in northern Kentucky. The sign is located along Main Street in Glencoe at the Eagle Hill Armoury gun store.

The sign reads, "Obama complains Americans are fat, police act stupid, U.S.A. is a bully, the president is a nagger." However, at some point over the weekend, the last word was changed to be a racial slur. The store owner said that he changed the sign immediately after being told about the slur and that he reported the issue to police.

The man who owns the sign, Bryan Roach, said that vandals changed the sign.... Many people in Glencoe said that they believe local children were to blame.

Source

It's conservatives who do hate speech and hate-crimes, right?

No Obama supporter would call a black man, a n*gger, would he? Not unless the black man was a conservative, of course.

"Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today condemned the brutal beating of activist Kenneth Gladney in South St. Louis County, MO, at a town hall event sponsored by Congressman Russ Caranhan (D-MO) by SEIU members who Wilson said "appears to have been sent out purposely to intimidate the crowd and instigate violence."

According to Kenneth Gladney's attorney, David B. Brown, "Kenneth was attacked on the evening of August 6, 2009 at Rep. Russ Carnahan's town hall meeting in South St. Louis County. I was at the town hall meeting as well and witnessed the events leading up to the attack of Kenneth. Kenneth was approached by an SEIU representative as Kenneth was handing out 'Don't Tread on Me' flags to other conservatives."

The statement continued, "The SEIU representative demanded to know why a black man was handing out these flags. The SEIU member used a racial slur against Kenneth, then punched him in the face. Kenneth fell to the ground. Another SEIU member yelled racial epithets at Kenneth as he kicked him in the head and back. Kenneth was also brutally attacked by one other male SEIU member and an unidentified woman."

According to the statement, "The three men were clearly SEIU members, as they were wearing T-shirts with the SEIU logo."

More HERE. Another account of the matter here

Violence against a black man on account of his political speech? Well, the Ku Klux Klan WERE Democrats, so I guess not much has changed. But I wonder why this has not hit the headlines of the New York Times? It's mentioned on one of their blogs but not elsewhere. Now if a REPUBLICAN had attacked the guy .....

US Marine Corps afraid of social networking sites

Surely only Milquetoast warriors would think Facebook or Twitter is a "high risk" threat. What is it when someone points a gun at you? The top brass are shaming their men with this nonsense.

"Citing security concerns, the United States Marine Corps has issued an order banning access to social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter on its network for the next year. The Pentagon is now reviewing its social networking policy for the entire Department of Defense, which should be completed by the end of September, according to a report from CNN.

The policy for the entire military is somewhat fragmented, as the Army ordered military bases to allow access to social media sites in May, according to Wired. … The Marine Corps order noted that social networking sites ‘in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries.’”

Source

U.S. no longer at war with 'terrorism'

We read:

"It's official. The United States is no longer engaged in a "war on terrorism." Neither is it fighting "jihadists" nor locked in a "global war." President Obama's top homeland security and counterterrorism official on Thursday declared as unacceptable the terms crafted by the George W. Bush administration.

It is now solely a "war with al Qaeda" and its violent extremist allies, said John Brennan, head of the White House homeland security office, during a speech Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank....

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in March that the administration was not using the term "war on terror" but no specific directive had come from the White House itself. Mr. Obama used the term "war on terror" Jan. 23, his fourth day as president, but he has not used it since.

Source

So all Islamic extremists are affiliated with al Qaeda? Some of them might be surprised to hear that. There are a lot of divisions in the Muslim world. For a start, al Qaeda are Sunni. So there are no Shiite terrorists?? Where does that leave the Shiite Iranians and their allies in Lebanon?

Still, "war on terror" was a pretty silly phrase too. The accurate thing to say would be "war on Muslim terrorists" but we MUST not mention that word "Muslim", of course.

Dissent is still the highest form of patriotism, right?

Only when you are dissenting from GOP policies, apparently.

"Remember what people on the left used to say about questioning the policies of the occupant of the White House? Going back several years and ending only a few months ago, I seem to remember a lot of people talking about how “dissent is patriotic.” After all, wasn’t it lefty saint Howard Zinn himself who went so far as to declare that “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”? Even politicians like the current U.S. Secretary of State, sick and tired though she was at the time, got into the act:

Yet now, like in the fickle world of fashion, dissent is strictly outré - an unsavory pastime for angry redneck losers with a birth certificate fetish. These days all the chic politicos are doing what’s best for the country and getting on board the Healthcare Express, full speed ahead. And much like another infamous vehicle from the recent past, the cabal that’s doing the driving is terrified that if they slow down, the entire effort will blow up in their faces. Hence the need to intimidate anyone raising uncomfortable questions.

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I somehow missed Obama telling his healthcare critics what great patriots they are. We hear that they are a "mob" instead! The usual disposable principles of the Left.

No free speech for judges in Britain

We read:

"A senior judge who described Britain’s immigration system as “completely lax” is to face an investigation. Judge Ian Trigger said last week that “hundreds and hundreds of thousands” of illegal immigrants were abusing the benefits system.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, has asked the Office for Judicial Complaints to rule on whether the comments were too political. The decision will be made jointly by Lord Judge and the Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw.

Source

If he'd said what a great system Britain had, there'd be no problem, of course.

Some political statements should be reported to the White House??

The following appears on the White House blog:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov

The Left are always claiming that certain things will have a "chilling" effect on free speech but this strikes me as a real-life example of it. If you email criticisms of Obamacare, you go on an official list of some kind. Lists vary, of course, but anybody who has lived under the former socialist governments of Eastern Europe will tell you that being on a socialist government's list can be very bad news.

Taranto covers the matter at some length and I like the following comment from him:

At the very least, it is obnoxious to imply that all opposition to ObamaCare is based on “disinformation.” This show of contempt for opposing views ought to make skeptics even more skeptical. And it is creepy for an agent of the government to ask citizens to inform on their neighbors.

There certainly is a whiff of old Eastern Europe about it all.

There are several quite sane, sober and factual articles about the "end of life" provisions of the draft health bill on SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. There is certainly much more than a "rumor" to it.

See here for the bromide that the White House has issued as a response to criticisms such as the above.

A "racist" poster?



We read:

"For reasons that baffle me, a big deal is being made over someone photoshopping the president’s face into a representation of The Joker from the The Dark Knight. The LA Weekly, eager to play the racism card says “the only thing missing is the noose.” Whaaa?

Now, I can see if someone had taken a picture of President Obama and photoshopped whiteface for spite and without context, (or, for that matter, blackface as done here to Michael Steele) then one might have a credible case for crying “racism.”

But this is making a clear reference to a known fictional character called The Joker, and there is clearly the word “Socialism” beneath the portrait. This is political commentary; whoever came up with it is using a familiar visual image, and giving us an actual word which delivers a two-point message: he or she thinks the president is a joke, and a socialist.

This -until very recently- used to be called “free speech.” It is protected in this country, and thought very highly of. And protest or dissent, we have been told, is the very highest form of patriotism.....

We just went through 8 years of President Bush being called Hitler and photoshopped as Hitler, as Mussolini, as Saturn Devouring One of His Own Children.

Obama’s predecessor endured 8 Years of Assassination Fascination. Actually, the “Assassinate Bush Chic” began even before the 2000 election, when Craig Kilborn flashed “snipers wanted” under a picture of Bush. So-called “newsmen” like Keith Olbermann repeatedly called the president “a fascist” and “a terrorist.” And Obama supporters can’t handle The Joker and the word “Socialism”?

Source

Jeremy Clarkson mentions the war



Popularity protects him. He is a breath of fresh air amid Britain's stifling political correctness.

"Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson and Germans go together in much the same way that petrol and naked flames don’t. So when the controversial host announced he had prepared his own spoof ad for the launch of the new Volkswagon Scirocco, the BBC prepared for the worst. And the worst it got - scores of complaints from outraged viewers after Clarkson lauded the VW’s ability to go from “Berlin to Warsaw in one tank”.

More than 6.7 million viewers watched Clarkson’s “ad”, in which panicked Warsaw citizens fled the city, rushing to board buses and trains as sirens warned of the approaching Germans.

The reference to Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland that triggered World War II has sparked a storm of debate in the UK and Europe, with onlookers struggling to decide whether Clarkson’s ad was tasteless or just a bit of fun.

Clarkson has made a name for himself as a spokesman of Britain’s un-PC brigade, and it isn’t the first time he’s had fun at the expense of Germany’s wartime atrocities. In 2005, he said a German-made Mini’s indicators should go up and down while mimicking a Nazi salute and that the car should have a GPS system “that only goes to Poland”.

A spokeswoman for the show told Britain’s Daily Mail it had only received a handful of complaints but national broadcast watchdog Ofcom figures are understood to be higher when they are released tomorrow.

The Volkswagon Scirocco episode was the last in the current series. The BBC has confirmed the hugely popular show will return.

Source

"Don't mention the war" is politically correct in Britain but the saying actually comes from an hilarious episode of the famous BBC comedy "Fawlty Towers", featuring the inimitable John Cleese.

Google censorship again

This time they have blocked the popular humor blog Wicked Thoughts. All is not lost, however, as the Mirror site is still updating regularly. I have no idea what the blocking is all about or if it will be permanent so do publicize the link to the mirror site.

This is a confused one

A Muslim school says it was defamed when the ACLU said it was a Muslim school. I kid you not.

"An Inver Grove Heights charter school accused of crossing the line between religion and public education is fighting back against the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) says the ACLU, which sued the academy in January, defamed the school and hurt its ability to hire qualified teachers, according to counterclaims filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

In its suit, the ACLU alleged that the public school promotes the Muslim religion, violating the Constitution's First Amendment.

The K-8 school has denied the allegations and said in court documents that Charles Samuelson, executive director of the Minnesota ACLU, injured the school's reputation by saying publicly that TiZA is "a theocratic school ... as plain as the substantial nose on my face."

The ACLU's lawsuit and statements led to threats against the school's staff, and the lawsuit and resulting negative attention hurt the school's learning environment and caused several students to withdraw from the school, TiZA said in a statement Tuesday. At least 10 prospective TiZA teachers withdrew their applications in the middle of the hiring process, leaving the school with several open positions, the statement said.

Source

Truth hurts, I guess.

Good news for free speech -- so the Left hate it

I can do no better than to quote Taranto on this:

"Next month before the usual October start to its term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hold an unusual rehearing of a case it declined to decide in the 2008-09 term, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This case involves the regulation of campaign speech, and the court is expected to consider whether to overturn a pair of precedents: Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990), which held that a ban on corporate funding of campaigns does not violate the First Amendment, and McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003), which upheld a ban on corporate-funded speech that so much as mentions the name of a political candidate.

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post is alarmed at the prospect:

Overruling Austin would be a disaster, and curtailing McCain-Feingold [the statute upheld in McConnell] only slightly less so. The floodgates would be opened for corporations, and labor unions, to run ads supporting or attacking candidates--not only in federal campaigns, but in the 22 states that now prohibit such spending. The only restriction would be that they couldn’t give to candidates directly.

Imagine the 2010 election in a post-Austin world, with drug companies going after members of Congress who vote against their interests, or banks targeting lawmakers who backed tighter regulation. It’s not as if these industries lack political power now, but consider what kind of legislation would result if lawmakers had to fear that an industry they defied could spend an unlimited amount to defeat them at the next election.

It would be a disaster! The floodgates would be open! But to what exactly? It’s important to note that when Marcus refers to “attacking candidates,” she does not mean it literally. No one asserts that the First Amendment protects murder and mayhem. No, what we’re about here is criticizing candidates--also known as free speech. And this is political speech, traditionally understood to be at the very core of First Amendment protection.

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Disowning Fidel Castro?

A Leftist letter-writer says:

"Doug Patton's July 15 column in Hernando Today uses a typical conservative ploy to paint liberals as bad people. He makes up stuff. He says, "Liberals revere their favorite socialists, past and present - Mao, Che, Hugo, Fidel and others."

That's ridiculous. Nobody reveres these monsters.

Source

If so, tell me any American Leftist in any position of prominence who has ever condemned Castro? They fall over themselves to excuse him in fact, just as they once always excused the ghastly Soviets. And how many times have you seen a picture of Che Guevara on a college kid's sweatshirt? And we know what the political atmosphere at colleges is. If it were not for the pervasive Leftism on campus, the kids would be ashamed of idolizing a murderous thug. And now that Hugo Chavez has just shut down most of the Venezuelan media, what has Obama said about that? The silence is deafening.

No conservative needs to make up stuff when it comes to pointing out where the hearts of the American Left (so-called "liberals") lie. Denial might be convenient at times but it won't wash.

Know a man by the company he keeps

Obama supports "Jewish conspiracy" theorists:

"[Obama] sent his no. 2 woman at the White House, Valerie Jarrett, to speak at the racist hate-fest staged over the Fourth of July weekend by the Islamic Society of North America, an unindicted co-conspirator in a case involving the funding of the Hamas terror group. At the ISNA conference, pure hate speech and Islamic anti-Semitism were promoted, and the Obama administration was there.

Imam Warith Deen Umar spoke about his books, Jews for Salaam: The Straight Path to Global Peace, and Judaiology. Umar, the former head of New York prisons' Muslim chaplain program, repeatedly described Jewish conspiracies to control the world: "Why do this small number of people," he asked, "have control of the world? ...There's some people in the world says no Holocaust even happened. Some of their leaders say no Holocaust even happened. Well it did happen. These people were punished. They were punished for a reason, because they were serially disobedient to Allah."

Source

Boissoin case to go before top court in Canadian province

Adverse verdict likely to be set aside. Penalizing body not willing to defend its actions.

"When Rev. Stephen Boissoin takes his case before the Court of Queen's Bench on Sept. 16, the court has a golden opportunity not only to right the wrong done to Boissoin, but also to strike down the law that gives the Alberta Human Rights Commission jurisdiction over matters of free speech. Boissoin published a letter in the Red Deer Advocate in 2002 in which he criticized the representation to impressionable schoolchildren of homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle choice. Boissoin used strong language and said this would lead to desensitizing kids and recruiting them into the gay lifestyle. One can agree or disagree with Boissoin's opinions, but what he said is irrelevant to the larger issue, which is his inalienable right to say it.

University of Calgary education professor Darren Lund complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, on the grounds that under Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, Boissoin had made gays a target for contempt and hate.

Boissoin was fined$5,000 and ordered to "cease publishing in newspapers, by e-mail, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the Internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals." No society which calls itself free should tolerate an individual being ordered by a semi-judicial body using no rules of evidence, to stop making "disparaging remarks" in perpetuity about anyone or anything. Boissoin ended up being punished, even though the commission's decision specifically stated its goal is "ameliorating the effects of discrimination, rather than punishing the perpetrator." Muzzling someone's right to free speech ameliorates nothing-- quite the opposite, in fact. It erodes basic Charter freedoms, and erosion of those freedoms is something which cannot be considered to have an ameliorating effect in a democratic society...

The HRC has chosen not to participate in the September court hearing, at which the constitutionality of its ruling will be debated; the case will really be Boissoin versus Lund. Both the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which has stated it finds Boissoin's letter "abhorrent" and the Canadian Constitution Foundation will appear as interveners on Boissoin's behalf.

Source

Liberal Intolerance on TV

We read:

"Chuck Todd and company at NBC News are outraged that conservative talker Beck won't --or can't-- be fired for calling President Obama a "racist." They blogged as follows:

On the Glenn Becks and Howard Beales: The White House doesn't want to give Glenn Beck a bigger platform or extra oxygen -- especially regarding his remark yesterday that the president has "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture" -- so they won't comment, even off record.....

What's most amazing about this episode is that what Beck said isn't a fireable or even a SUSPENDABLE offense by his bosses. There was a time when outrageous rants like this would actually cost the ranters their jobs.....

So much for the national discussion on race relations that leftists and journalists say America desperately needs.

Of course when liberal demagogues maliciously declare their enemies racist in the complete absence of evidence, such as when House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel (D-New York) said Republican tax cuts were racist ("It's not 'sp--' or 'ni--er' anymore. They say, 'Let's cut taxes.'") we hear barely a peep from the liberal media.

Meanwhile, a radical pressure group called the Southern Poverty Pimp Law Center wants adversary Lou Dobbs of CNN canned. The SPLC's Richard Cohen claims he wants Dobbs off the air because "[f]or years, Dobbs has been trading in baseless, conspiratorial claims that originate on the radical right."

Anyone who has monitored this fundraising powerhouse that masquerades as a public interest law firm knows the SPLC hates --and I don't use that word lightly-- Dobbs because of the hard line he takes on immigration issues. The group continually smears Dobbs as a racist and this helps its coffers grow.

Source

Alabama Bans Wine With Naked Nymph On Label



We read:

"Alabama doesn't want any images of naked flying nymphs hanging off bicycles on the labels of wine bottles sold in the state and that's just the way it is. Might give people the wrong idea. Who knows what folks might start trying on bicycles?

So the state's liquor control board has banned a California wine called Cycles Gladiator because its label uses an Art Nouveau image that once graced the posters of a turn-of-the-century French bicycle manufacturer. So "Fat Bastard" wine is OK but if you think you're going to sell a wine with an artful nude on the label in Alabama, you're just whistling Dixie.

As for Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., the state's move has been a marketing godsend.

Source

So have a laugh at those Alabama hicks. The sophisticates of NYC would never sink that low, would they? See below.

Book banning: That's the sophisticated NYC-style tolerance

They are about as tolerant as Joe Stalin, who said that "There is complete freedom of speech in Russia as long as you agree with me".

"Like many outlets of the CVS Caremark pharmacy chain, the store in Chelsea at Eighth Avenue and 24th Street has a book rack stocked with texts distributed by a Virginia-based company called Choice Books. These books are the inspirational type, many of them Christian-themed.

Leafing recently through titles like “Emergency Prayers” and “500 Questions & Answers from the Bible,” two Chelsea women were appalled by passages that called homosexuality a “cancer,” sinful and “detestable” to God. The women alerted Chelsea Now, a local newspaper, describing the passages as “hate speech” from which children had to be shielded.

Chelsea Now agreed in an editorial. In short order, CVS removed the two books from its stores throughout the city. “We are committed to building an environment of inclusion and acceptance that values diversity across all areas of our business,” a company spokesman, Michael DeAngelis, said in an e-mail message to me...

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Christianity falls outside "diversity", apparently. We can't be TOO diverse, now, can we? The Left walk in lockstep like the Prussian soldiers of old. They would not know the meaning of diversity or tolerance. They use their brains only to defend their orthodoxies.

Australian Islamic spokesman found to have incited racism but no penalty even considered

We read:

"Keysar Trad, the longtime spokesman for Muslim cleric Sheik Taj bin al-Hilaly, has been described as "racist" and "offensive" by a judge who today rejected his defamation claim against radio station 2GB. Mr Trad sued the top-rating Sydney station in the NSW Supreme Court after presenter Jason Morrison described him "gutless" and " just trouble" for his conduct at a rally after the Cronulla riots in December 2005, The Australian reported. Mr Trad's comment about the "shame of tabloid journalism' caused the crowd to boo and harass a 2GB journalist near the stage.

The reporter told Mr Morrison he feared for his safety, prompting the presenter to deliver his tirade the following morning, in which he also described Mr Trad as "disgraceful and dangerous individual who incited violence, hatred and racism."

In August 2007, a jury found Mr Morrison had defamed Mr Trad but Justice Peter McClellan found for 2GB in the second - or defence - phase of the trial that was heard in May, saying the statement were true and also protected as comment based on fact. "There is little doubt that many of the plaintiff's remarks are offensive to Jewish persons and homosexuals," Justice McClellan said in his judgment. "Many of his remarks are distasteful and appear to condone violence.

"I'm satisfied that the plaintiff does hold views which can properly be described as racist. "I'm also satisfied that he encourages others to hold those views. In particular he holds views derogatory of Jewish people.

SOURCE

And that it all well and good but it would seem perfectly clear that in his remarks the judge found Mr Trad to be in breach of Section 20C of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act of 1977 as amended, which holds racial vilification to be unlawful. So why was there not the slightest hint of prosecuting him for that? That good ol' Muslim freedom to do and say as you like, I guess. One law for Muslims and another for us peasants. Sharia has triumphed already in some ways, it would seem.

Federal government embarrassed by a sign saying "United States"

Because it could become a target for terrorism

"Four years ago, when the federal General Services Administration unveiled its plans for a new border-crossing station here in northeastern New York State, the design was presented as part of the agency’s campaign to raise the dismal standards of government architecture. Even many in the famously fractious architectural community celebrated the complex — particularly its main building, emblazoned with glossy yellow, 21-foot-high letters spelling “United States” — as a rare project the government could point to with pride.

Yet three weeks ago, less than a month after the station opened, workers began prying the big yellow letters off the building’s facade on orders from Customs and Border Protection. The plan is to dismantle the rest of the sign this week.

“At the end of the day, I think they were somewhat surprised at how bold and how bright it was,” said Les Shepherd, the chief architect of the General Services Administration, referring to the customs agency’s sudden turnaround. “There were security concerns,” said Kelly Ivahnenko, a spokeswoman for the customs agency. “The sign could be a huge target and attract undue attention.

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