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29 February, 2012
British Conservative politician denies claims of 'Cymru-phobia' after he is rebuked over 'welshed' remark
We read:"Michael Gove yesterday denied being guilty of 'Cymru-phobia' after using the term 'welshed' in Parliament. The Education Secretary used the verb, meaning to fail to honour a deal, as he faced MPs at Commons' questions.At least the discussion was good-humored. Cymru is the name for Wales in Welsh (a Gaelic tongue).
Some Welsh people find the term offensive, claiming it implies they cannot be trusted.
Mr Gove, a Scotsman, was rebuked by Speaker John Bercow, who urged him to choose another word.
The clash came after Mr Gove admitted he had agreed to visit Stoke with the city's Labour MP Tristram Hunt, but never went. Mr Gove told Mr Hunt: 'I have a confession to make: you invited me to the Potteries and I welshed on the deal.'
The Speaker rose to his feet, telling the Education Secretary: 'I think you meant "renege".'
After consulting with colleagues a puzzled Mr Gove, whose wife, Times journalist Sarah Vine, was born in Wales, thanked the Speaker for 'correcting my vocab'. He added: 'I would hate to be thought guilty of Cymru-phobia, especially as someone married to a Welsh girl.'
Source
Must not associate Chinese people with fortune cookies
We read:"Ben & Jerry's, the iconic ice cream brand famous for flavors borrowed from a broad swath of the culinary spectrum, has apologized for including fortune cookies in its "Taste the Lin-Sanity" frozen yogurt sold at a Harvard Square location in Boston.
The Vermont-founded company has replaced the fortune cookies in its honey-swirl, Jeremy Lin-inspired variety with waffle cones.
"We offer a heartfelt apology if anyone was offended by our handmade Lin-Sanity flavor," Ben & Jerry's said in a statement.
Source
28 February, 2012
OK to portray Jews with hook noses but not OK to portray Muslims with hook noses?
Cartoons from Muslim countries routinely portray Jews with big noses. Some examples here.
Note that the Muslims in the toon are also portrayed as wearing turbans and having long beards -- which is indeed how many Muslims do present themselves, particularly in Muslim countriesThe Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has called on the New York Post to apologize for a political cartoon published in the paper Friday which CAIR says “evokes anti-Semitic themes” through its depiction of hook-nosed terrorists objecting to the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims without warrant throughout the city.
A post on the group’s Facebook page indicates that the Muslim civil rights groups is asking American Muslims and “other people of conscience to contact the newspaper and to politely ask that they apologize for the offensive cartoon.”
Source
UPDATE: Amusingly, Glenn Greenwald over at Salon says of the cartoon above: "It goes without saying that there is not a single other group against whom bigotry this hateful and overt would be tolerated"
Unless they are Jews or Christians of course!
"Greenwald" is an Ashkenazi name so I think we have another self-hating Jew there. I added the following comment to his post: "Could you tell us how often you have condemned Muslims for posting cartoons of Jews with hook noses"
Hijab quip sees man detained at British airport
Must not even mention privileged treatment of MuslimsAirport security detained the creator of popular children's character Fireman Sam after he made a remark about a woman wearing a hijab, British media reports.
David Jones, 67, was at London's Gatwick airport placing his carry-on items into a tray, including a scarf, for scanning when a woman wearing a hijab passed by him through security without showing her face, London's Daily Telegraph reports.
Mr Jones reportedly said “If I was wearing this scarf over my face, I wonder what would happen?”
Shortly after, Mr Jones was confronted by security and accused of making a racist remark. The Telegraph reports he was then detained for an hour as officials attempted to force him to apologise.
An angry Mr Jones told the newspaper that he felt like his rights had been violated and that the experience was like something out of George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984. The former fireman denied his remark was racist and refused to apologise.
Mr Jones said "it was impossible to get (the guard) to listen to reason".
After a British Airways manager and police officer also arrived on the scene (the latter at Mr Jones' request), he eventually agreed to compromise and agreed that his comment "could" be considered offensive.
Britain's Department of Transport allows people to cover their faces for religious purposes, but they must show their faces at passport control, which they can request be done in private.
Source
27 February, 2012
Atheist Calls Christians Planning to Attend D.C. ‘Reason Rally’ ‘Mindless Parasites’
More Leftist hate speechAtheists are coming to Washington, D.C., en force. We already told you about the so-called “Reason Rally,” which is being dubbed a Woodstock for non-believers. The event, to be held on March 24, will bring together “free thinkers” and the organizations that serve them. But following the announcement that this massive undertaking would be occurring in our nation’s capital, it seems some Christians are crafting a response — an event called “True Reason.”What a contrast in attitudes! It is certainly clear who the haters are. Leftists are constantly accusing conservatives of hate on the flimsiest of grounds -- in an attempt to cover up who the real haters are.
The Christians behind the effort want atheists to know that they’re reasonable individuals who are prepared to confront them with love. Here’s what the “True Reason” web site says:
"This website represents Christians from all over the country—even some from as far as Australia and New Zealand—who know that Christianity is both good and reasonable. We’re ready to meet the New Atheists at their Reason Rally in Washington: in truth and in love, to share person-to-person, one-on-one, with anyone we can."
At least one atheist who caught wind of Christians’ plans shared his disdain on FreethoughtBlogs.com. PZ Myers, who will be speaking at “Reason Rally” and who was also responsible for hijacking a Blaze poll about faith last year, had some strong words for believers planning to attend the atheist “Woodstock” event:
"I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This gathering will certainly attract swarms of mindless parasites…this is just the first public announcement of their intent that I’ve seen."
Source
Christian views being censored on social media
We read:"Religious broadcasters are sounding the alarm over exclusion of parts of their message from the Internet.
National Religious Broadcasters President Frank Wright told members at their convention in Nashville, Tenn., that the defense of traditional marriage and morality is now banned as hate speech on some social media platforms.
He gave examples, including the removal of apps for the Manhattan Declaration and Exodus International from the iTunes store. Wright said, "The hecklers in our culture are beginning to dictate the terms of debate and what speech is permitted on social media."
Wright acknowledged that Apple, Google, Facebook and other Internet gatekeepers are private companies, so their speech policies don't amount to government censorship. But he called for an open forum on the Web that allows for expression of biblical viewpoints
Source
26 February, 2012
NASCAR bans “General Lee” from Phoenix race, because of Confederate flag on top of it
No reference to Southern history allowed:"The Dukes of Hazzard has been off the air since 1985, but the television show’s biggest star – a 1969 Dodge Charger known as the “General Lee” – has landed in the middle of an odd controversy between a professional golfer and NASCAR.The NASCAR organizers sound like frightened little pussies
The controversy began when PGA Tour golf pro Bubba Watson purchased a version of the General Lee at auction for $110,000. Through a tie-up between the PGA and NASCAR, Watson was invited to drive the General Lee for a parade lap during the March 4 Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, but NASCAR has decided it would be best if Watson’s car remained in his garage during the event.
The issue stems from the General Lee’s paint job. Anyone familiar with the TV show will remember the General Lee’s Confederate flag roof, which NASCAR says doesn’t fit with the sport’s core values.
Source
Health chiefs gag university medical students with legal threat
Australia:In an affront to free speech, Queensland Health has demanded all medical students sign a gag order or be turfed out of their courses.
Students are furious that the University of Queensland medical school has gone along with the ridiculous ban they fear will prevent them from speaking out against wrongdoing or mistreatment of patients.
"Of primary concern is the contents of the document which seems to provide disproportionately harsh penalties for students in relation to extremely vaguely worded 'breaches', most of which seem designed to protect Queensland Health, not patients," said one student. "Also of concern is the manner in which students are being forced to sign these documents as a 'requirement' of their placement.
Ramsay said he wondered whether it was linked to the controversy surrounding medical student Margaret O'Connell, who kept a diary of shortcomings at the school. O'Connell said students were not properly supervised during a seven-week "rotation" at a Queensland private hospital catering chiefly for the mentally ill. She said doctors made fun of suicidal patients, including one who had threatened to jump into the Brisbane River.
O'Connell complained doctors would not let students attend consultations with them. And doctors made it clear to students they didn't care whether they turned up. The doctors didn't even know the students' names and didn't want to know. "I suspect this gag order is directly or indirectly related to the case of Meg," said Ramsay.
SOURCE
25 February, 2012
Atheist Leader Cites Founding Fathers While Defending Demand for Removal of 10 Commandments in N.C.?
We read:"Earlier this month, The Blaze told you about a drama unfolding between the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist and freethinking group based in Wisconsin, and a local government in North Carolina. The non-believing group is demanding that officials remove a Ten Commandments plaque that is hanging in the Newland Town Hall.I guess she hasn't read the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
So far, though, the town has not complied with the demand and is carefully reviewing the group’s request. Currently, town officials are relying upon legal advice as they weigh the pros and cons associated with the plaque’s presence in the public building.
Gaylor argues that McCreary County vs. ACLU, a 2005 Supreme Court case, already settled this matter in the atheists’ favor. “The government has no business telling you what god to worship, how many gods to worship or whether to worship any god at all,” she continued
Hundley, though, started getting into specifics. He asked Gaylor how she would feel if a religious item were present inside of a public employee’s office rather than in a highly-visible area. In this case, the atheist leader said she may still be opposed.
Of course, she ended by claiming that the founding fathers would have never wanted such displays. “We have no Ten Commandments in our foundational documents, in our Constitution,” she said. “Our founders did not want religion and government to mix.”
Source
Who was that "Creator" guy? Or was the Declaration not a political document?
A free speech win in St. Louis
We read:"Good news for Saint Louisans: That “End Eminent Domain Abuse” sign that you can see at the intersection of Hwys. 44 and 55 is here to stay. In a partial free speech victory, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a circuit court ruling that struck down portions of Saint Louis City’s sign code for violating the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
For those of us in the Midwest, this is great news. This means that government cannot regulate signs and murals based on their content. And, as a result, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the offending portion of the city’s zoning code may have to be rewritten.
This is also a meaningful victory for anti-eminent domain activists in Saint Louis. Jim Roos, the plaintiff (pictured above), has had more than his fair share of struggles with city government. Using eminent domain, the city took 24 different properties from Sanctuary in the Ordinary, or managed by Neighborhood Enterprises, a nonprofit that provides low-income housing that Roos founded.
Source
24 February, 2012
British TV channel forced to apologise after reporter calls black sportsmen 'coloured'
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) must be REALLY offensive!ITV were forced to apologise today after a reporter covering a Downing Street football racism summit twice referred to black players as 'coloured'.Some very confused thinking above. Africans must not be confused with Indians? I agree with that but would normally be accused of racial discrimination for saying so. Yet above such distinctions seem to be demanded and regarded as important. But logic doesn't seem to work on political correctness. It's all just an emotional kneejerk.
Following the ITV broadcast, dozens of viewers objected to the uses of the term 'coloured' on Twitter.
An ITV spokeswoman said they were sorry and the recording should never have gone out.
Using the term 'coloured' to refer to black people is considered offensive because it dismisses everyone who is not white as the same. The term was in widespread use in Britain in the 1960s but is now considered racist. The problem is it suggests white people are white and everyone else is 'coloured'. There is no recognition that everyone has their own ethnic origin. [So what race you are is important?? I thought that was "racism"!]
Source
EU suspends ratification of ACTA treaty, refers issue to court
Good to see that internet censorship is under attack even in Europe"The European Commission, facing steep opposition, has suspended efforts to ratify a new international anti-counterfeiting agreement -- instead referring it to Europe’s highest court to see whether it violates any fundamental EU rights. ...I don't think ACTA ever had much chance of being ratified by the U.S. Senate after the meltdown over SOPA and PIPA but if even the EU can't get it passed it is really a dead duck.
Protests against the agreement were staged earlier this month in several European capitals -- including Berlin, Helsinki, Paris and Vienna -- by critics who say the agreement would stifle free speech and access to information.
For the EU to be a party to the treaty, all 27 member states would have to ratify it." [And some of the ex-Communist states will almost certainly reject it. They know all about censorship there]
Source
23 February, 2012
‘It’s the N—–s’: Girls Forced to Leave School Over Racist Rant
Once again, what is OK from blacks is not OK from anyone else"The Huffington Post reports that a pair of Florida high school girls caught in a Youtube rant against black people have left their school and apologized. The girls had previously been the target of death threats over their video
The video itself is apparently a response to hate mail that the primary speaker in the video got over a “racist post.” Much of that hate mail, ironically enough, also contains racial slurs, with several people calling the girl either a “s–c“ or ”dirty taco eater,“ and one even targeting Hispanics for their Catholicism by accusing her of following ”pedophile priests.”
The girls also make a seemingly inconsistent attempt to disavow any hatred for black people, claiming instead that they only hate black people who “can’t talk right“ and ”drop out of high school” in order to go on welfare, raise children and “work at McDonald’s.”
Midway through the video, the girls begin dropping the n-word, though in a bewildering twist, they do so in order to explain why they’re not racist. “It’s not even black people themselves, it’s the n——s, there’s a difference,” the girls say in synchronicity.
“There’s black people, they’re fine, they’re educated, they go to school, they do what they have to do, then there’s n—–s, who can’t talk right, they keep having kids, they can’t get jobs, there’s a difference.” Later in the video, the girls clarify that “n—–s“ is a term of convenience for ”ghetto” black people.
Though the usage of the racial slur will undoubtedly shock some, this distinction does not originate with the girls in the video. Rather, it originates with black comedian Chris Rock:
“There’s a civil war going on with black people – there’s black people, and there’s n—–s, and every time black people want to have a good time, n—–s f–k it up,” Chris Rock says in the routine. “Man, I love black people, but I hate n—–s, I wish they’d let me join the Ku Klux Klan!”
Source
Parental Outrage Forces Houston School To Drop Pro-Obama Chant
We read:"Just last week The Blaze brought you the story of Tipps Elementary School in Houston that sent kindergarteners home with an assignment to learn a poem that lavished praises on the president as part of Black History Month.
An outraged parent sent a copy of the poem/song, and the memo attached to it, to syndicated talk show host Joe Pagliarulo. Pags (as he is known to his listeners) broadcast the story on the radio last week and generated considerable interest — and anger — from parents and citizens whose tax dollars fund the Tipps Elementary School.
The school’s principal did not respond directly to inquiries from The Blaze or Pagliarulo, but progress has been reported. Yesterday we received a copy of a letter sent to parents from the kindergarten teacher, Debra Thornton. The note read:
"Although you have indicated that your child will not be participating in the Black History program, I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify some misinformation you have received.
Since you received this preliminary selection, Ms. Reid has had the chance to review all the performance selections by all grade levels. Those kindergarten students with parent permission to participate will be doing a recitation of a selection from the book by Michelle Cook, Our Children Can Soar, A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change, instead of the preliminary selection that was sent to you.
Nothing in the original memo mentioned that this was a preliminary selection. And the note also states that all kindergarteners will be required to learn it, not just those participating in the program.
Source
22 February, 2012
Texas Math Teacher Fighting for Job After Telling Disruptive Student ‘Go Back to Mexico’
Capable math teachers are a rare breed. If the school can afford to fire one we see again a case where education is sacrificed to political correctness"A Texas teacher is fighting to keep her job after she told a student “Go back to Mexico.”
Shirley Bunn, a math teacher at Barnett Junior High School in Arlington, Texas, acknowledged she lost her temper on Sept. 30 while handing forms out to students in her class, Dallas-Fort Worth’s Fox 4 reported.
According to public records, a disruptive student was repeatedly requesting a form printed in Spanish by saying, “I’m Mexican. I’m Mexican.” Bunn, a two-time “Teacher of the Year” with 24 years of teaching experience, attempted to tell the student he could get the form in the office but he continued to repeat, “I’m Mexican.”
“[Then] go back to Mexico,” Bunn shot back.
She was immediately placed on paid leave the day of the incident and is still waiting for the school board to rule next month on whether she should be reinstated.
Source
Internet freedom fighters aiming to build a shadow Web
We read:"Governments and corporations have more control over the Internet than ever. Now digital activists want to build an alternative network that can never be blocked, filtered or shut down
Just after midnight on January 28, 2011, the government of Egypt, rocked by three straight days of massive antiregime protests organized in part through Facebook and other online social networks, did something unprecedented in the history of 21st-century telecommunications: it turned off the Internet. Exactly how it did this remains unclear, but the evidence suggests that five well-placed phone calls—one to each of the country’s biggest Internet service providers (ISPs)—may have been all it took.
The Internet was designed to be a decentralized system: every node should connect to many others. This design helped to make the system resistant to censorship or outside attack.
Yet in practice, most individual users exist at the edges of the network, connected to others only through their Internet service provider (ISP). Block this link, and Internet access disappears.
An alternative option is beginning to emerge in the form of wireless mesh networks, simple systems that connect end users to one another and automatically route around blocks and censors.
Yet any mesh network needs to hit a critical mass of users before it functions well; developers must convince potential users to trade off ease of use for added freedom and privacy....
What mesh networks do, on the other hand, is precisely what an ISP does not: they let the end user’s machine act as a data relay. In less technical terms, they let users stop being merely Internet consumers and start being their own Internet providers. If you want a better sense of what that means, consider how things might have happened on January 28 if Egypt’s citizens communicated not through a few ISPs but by way of mesh networks.
At the very least, it would have taken a lot more than five phone calls to shut that network down. Because each user of a mesh network owns and controls his or her own small piece of the network infrastructure, it might have taken as many phone calls as there were users—and much more persuading, for most of those users, than the ISPs’ executives needed.
Much more here
21 February, 2012
Another unwise joke
Sports people just don't "get" political correctness"Televison sports network ESPN has fired an employee responsible for an offensive headline referring to New York Knicks basketball sensation Jeremy Lin.
The headline "Chink in the Armour" was used on Friday on ESPN's mobile website after Lin had nine turnovers in New York's loss to New Orleans.
In a statement on Sunday, ESPN apologised for that headline and said it was also aware of two other "offensive and inappropriate" comments on ESPN outlets.
An ESPNEWS anchor who used the phrase has been suspended for 30 days. And ESPN says a similar reference was made Friday on ESPN Radio New York, but the commentator is not an ESPN employee.
Lin is the National Basketball Association's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.
Source
Are lies protected free speech?
A libel is an example of a lie and it has never been regarded as protectedXavier Alvarez stood up at a public meeting and called himself a wounded war veteran who had received the top military award, the Medal of Honor. He was lying about his medal, his wounds and his military service, but he wasn't the first man to invent war exploits.
He was, however, one of the first people prosecuted under a 2006 federal law aimed at curbing false claims of military valor.
Concerns that the law improperly limits speech and turns people into criminals for things they say, rather than do, are at the heart of the Supreme Court's review of his case and the Stolen Valor Act.
Civil liberties groups, writers, publishers and news media outlets, including The Associated Press, have told the justices they worry the law, and especially the administration's defense of it, could lead to more attempts by government to regulate speech.
Alvarez made his claims by way of introducing himself as an elected member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Pomona, California. There is nothing to suggest that he received anything in exchange or that listeners especially believed him.
Even Alvarez' lawyers acknowledged their client sometimes has trouble telling the truth. But the lies Alvarez told harmed no one, they said, so what he did couldn't be considered fraud.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down the law as an unconstitutional restraint on free speech and said the government might instead invest in an awards database that would make it harder for people to lay claim to medals they never won.
Last month, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld the law in a separate case, saying the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech does not always protect false statements.
Source
20 February, 2012
Teacher suing for the right to use the 'N Word' in class
We read:"A white teacher is suing for the right to utter a racial epithet during discussion with his students about the perils of offensive vocabulary, after he was suspended for using 'verbally abusive language'.
In a lawsuit fled against Chicago's board of education, Lincoln Brown claims that his use of the word "n***er" during a conversation with students was a constitutionally-protected attempt to teach his class "an important lesson in vocabulary, civility and race relations".
The incident arose after his sixth-grade pupils - aged between 11 and 12 - were left "unsettled and arguing" over a note that one of them had passed around class, containing lyrics to a rap song that included the racially offensive term.
Mr Brown consequently started with them "a discussion about how upsetting such language can be, attempted to give his own denunciation of the use of such language and discussed how even such books as Huckleberry Finn were being criticised for the use of the N-word," the lawsuit states.
As the discussion was taking place inside his classroom at the Murray Language Academy, where the majority of students are black, the head teacher, who is black, passed by and overheard. Mr Brown was then suspended for five days for "using verbally abusive language" in front of pupils.
Mr Brown, 48, who teaches writing and social studies, said that he was simply exercising his responsibility to educate children against racism.
Source
More Leftist hate speech in Britain
We read:"A senior Labour councillor was suspended last night after backing sick calls for the IRA to repeat its bombing of the Conservative Party conference.
Florence Anderson, chairman of Sunderland Council’s crime and disorder committee, was suspended after making the ‘disgraceful’ comment on the social network site Facebook.
The 1984 bombing of Brighton’s Grand Hotel killed five and left several more injured, including the wife of the Tory Cabinet minister Norman Tebbit. Margaret Thatcher narrowly escaped with her life after the blast wrecked the bathroom of her hotel room.
Mrs Anderson, a former deputy leader of the council, courted controversy in 2010 when she called for Baroness Thatcher to ‘burn in hell’. At the time she said the comments were made in a private capacity and Labour agreed to stand by her.
But the party moved swiftly to remove the Labour whip last night after details of her latest comments became public.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘These comments are disgraceful. Florence Anderson has been suspended from the Labour Party with immediate effect in light of this information.’ The move followed comments made by Mrs Anderson on the site of the controversial Facebook group ‘Margaret Thatcher doesn’t have to be dead before we give her a funeral’.
Source
19 February, 2012
French council bans French word for 'Miss' from official documents because it is 'sexist'
I am no expert on French sociology but from what I gather the transition from "Mam'selle" to "Madame" has always been an important one in France. Broadly speaking, "Mam'selle" is young and "Madame" is old. So even married Frenchwomen are pleased to be addressed as "Mam'selle", as it shows they are perceived as young. So I think that it is the feminist ban on considering women's looks that is mainly at work here. A more pointless ban it would be hard to imagine. They might as well order water to flow uphill."A council in France has abolished the word 'Mademoiselle' from all official documents because it is 'condescending and sexist'.
The Paris suburb of Fontenay-sous-Bois said the term - the French equivalent of 'miss' - discriminates against women by asking them to reveal if they are married. From now on, men and women will only have to tick boxes asking if they are male or female, council bosses said.
Officials in the borough have also banned the term 'nom de jeune fille' meaning 'maiden name' from all paperwork, because it is 'archaic' and has 'connotations of virginity'.
Instead, women who have changed their surname will be asked only for their 'birth name' on documents.
A council spokesman said: 'There is no good reason why women should have to reveal their marital status while men don't. It's is simply outdated and unfair.'
The Brittany town of Cesson-Sevigne also banned the term 'mademoiselle' two months ago after pressure from a local women's group.
Source
Radio hosts pulled off the air in suspension over Whitney Houston 'crack ho' remarks
Since crack cocaine was a major element in the cocktail of junk that killed her, the description seems reasonable to me. Killing yourself with illegal drugs is not exactly respectworthy"A couple of popular Los Angeles radio shock jocks have been yanked from the airwaves over comments they made about Whitney Houston.
KFI AM 640 suspended John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, the hosts of the 'John and Ken Show,' for 'making insensitive and inappropriate comments about the late Whitney Houston,' it said in a statement. 'Management does not condone, support or tolerate statements of this kind,' the station added.
Among their inflammatory statements yesterday, the hosts called the late singer a 'crack ho' and said she was 'cracked out for 20 years.' Kobylt added: ‘Can you imagine, you're Clive Davis, and she has not been - she has not had her head screwed on right for 20 years?’
Kobylt said in statement that he and Chiampou 'used language that was inappropriate' and they 'sincerely apologize' to their listeners and to Houston's family. 'We made a mistake, and we accept the station's decision,' said Kobylt.
Source
18 February, 2012
Must not admire the appearance of a female teacher
A university that has a strange idea of what "uncensored" means. But feminism never was logical. By their own behaviour, feminists reinforce the view of women (as "illogical") that they claim to oppose."A mature student has been kicked out of university after describing his female teacher as ‘tall, blonde, stacked, smart and articulate’ in an essay.
Joseph Corlett, 56, is fuming after Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, kicked him off the writing and rhetoric course and the campus.
The journal in which he wrote the piece was labelled as a ‘place for a writer to try out ideas and record impressions and observations’. The idea was that uncensored writings and thoughts in the journal, which he handed in November, could be used to create proper essays.
Mr Corlett met with university officials in December and they allegedly told him last month he would be arrested if he set foot on the campus.
He was found guilty of intimidation by university officials at a hearing but a sexual harassment charge was dropped, reported ABC News. They added that he was suspended for three semesters and must go through sensitivity counselling if he wishes to reapply next winter.
‘This is a wild overreaction to a student's creative writing,’ FIRE President Greg Lukianoff, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said. 'The real issue is the First Amendment. It's about academic freedom and about due process'
‘The university has essentially issued a straightjacket to every writing student to protect the delicate sensibilities of faculty and staff.’
Oakland University Writing Center director Sherry Wynn Perdue told the Huffington Post that Mr Corlett had ‘victimised’ Ms Mitzelfeld.
Source
Jean-Marie Le Pen given suspended jail term for saying Nazi occupation of France 'wasn’t particularly inhumane'
M. Le Pen was perfectly correct and balanced in what he said. Napoleon was the first Fascist of modern times and the French were by and large perfectly happy to collaborate with a German regime following much the same philosophy. So there was no need for much in the way of oppression of the French. French officials zealously rounded up Jews for the Nazi death machine
Note that even the statistics given below justify M. Le Pen's statement. They are tiny compared to the 44 million population of France. M. Le Pen is simply being penalized for undermining the myth of French resistance to Nazism. Most of the resistance emerged only after the Germans had met serious reverses in Russia. M. Le Pen's offense was to tell the truthA court today upheld a three-month suspended prison sentence against Jean-Marie Le Pen after he described the Nazi occupation of France as ‘not especially inhumane'.
In 2005, Mr Le Pen had told Rivarol magazine that ‘in France, at least, the German Occupation was not especially inhumane, even if there were a few excesses - inevitable in a country of 550,000 square kilometres.’
In fact, thousands died after imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Nazis, including some 70,000 Jews who were deported from cities like Paris to concentration camps.
Source
17 February, 2012
French Lawmaker Under Fire After Criticizing homosexuals
Criticizing homosexuals is blasphemy in France too:"President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party said Wednesday it is kicking out a legislator who said gay people hold too much sway in France and downplayed the persecution of gays during World War II.No free speech in France
The comments by lawmaker Christian Vanneste unleashed an outpouring of criticism from left and right, and embarrassed Sarkozy’s conservative party just as the unpopular president was expected to announce that he will seek a second term in upcoming elections.
Vanneste looks set to lose his spot in the UMP party and his parliament seat over the remarks — harsh ramifications for what many see as offensive and incendiary commentary.
In a video broadcast on a French website, Vanneste said gays are “at the heart of power” in France, manipulating the media and making humankind “lose its dignity.”
Source
Atheist Family Sues to Have ‘Under God’ Removed From Pledge of Allegiance
This is just hate-driven. Nobody is obliged to say ‘Under God’ so this case amounts to a claim that it is offensive for OTHER people to express a religious belief, which seems contrary to the 1st amendment"An atheist couple in Acton, Massachusetts, are suing a local school district and claiming that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance with the words “under God” discriminates against their children. The parents, who wish to remain anonymous, are identified only as John and Jane Doe. They have three children in the Acton-Boxborough school system — one in high school and two others in middle school.
In Middlesex Superior Court on Monday, David Niosie, the family’s lawyer asked that the words be taken out of the expression of loyalty to America. According to the attorney, the term “under God” forces the children to engage in an activity that “defines patriotism according to a particular religious belief.”
“Every day these kids go to school and the pledge is recited declaring that the nation is in fact under God,” Niosie went on to tell a FOX25 reporter. “That marginalizes them and suggests that people who don’t believe in God are less patriotic.”
The school district, though, argues that the pledge is constitutional and that it is voluntary, thus the children are not being forced to participate. Dr. Stephen Mills, superintendent of the Acton-Boxborough school district, reiterated these views in commenting on the matter.
The words “under God” were added to the Pledge by Congress in 1954 under then President Dwight D. Eisenhower. They were included as a response to Communism and the Cold War.
The judge has not indicated when a decision on the matter would be made, although it should be noted that atheists have previously lost this same battle in other parts of the country.
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16 February, 2012
Another sportsman in trouble over a careless reference to homosexuals
Homosexuals seem to be the most sacred group in America today. You risk great penalties if you blaspheme against them. I kinda thought that blasphemy was out of place in a modern secular society
The guy below used the term "Foo F*ggots" in an apparent attempt at jocularity -- but you must not be jocular about the sacred. There is no free speech about the truly holy. Islam is holy too, of course. It is only those silly old good-natured Christians who miss outMinnesota Wild prospect Justin Fontaine has fit in nicely with the team's AHL affiliate Houston Aeros in his rookie season, posting 34 points in 49 games, good for second in team scoring. He's also fit in well off the ice -- three weeks ago, he joined a large contingent of Wild prospects that are currently on Twitter, interacting with fans.
He's taken to Twitter quite well by all accounts, too -- except for an unfortunate incident this last weekend when he used a gay slur.
Sunday night, Fontaine's roommate David MacIntyre tweeted about the Foo Fighters' Grammy performance. Fontaine responded, attempting to sarcastically disparage Dave Grohl's critically acclaimed grunge rock band. But he chose his words poorly.
Fontaine deleted the tweet, but not before a number of Wild fans had seen and reacted to it, and Houston Aeros captain John DiSalvatore had retweeted it for some reason.
Wild management didn't take too kindly to this and it responded immediately, suspending Fontaine for his next two games.
The problem is, when you are a pro athlete, you are no longer representing only yourself. As frustrating as that may be, it is the truth. This type of language gives the entire Wild organization a black eye
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Progress towards free speech in Canada
Under a conservative government, of courseA bill to repeal part of Canada’s most contentious hate speech provisions, which has brought together unusual allies, is one step closer to becoming law.
Conservative MP Brian Storseth’s private member’s bill that would repeal the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s power over hate messages disseminated online is likely to survive its next test.
The bill is scheduled to be voted on for a second time on Wednesday, and while it is a private member’s bill, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson endorsed the proposed legislation last November.
It will still have to be voted on once more in the House of Commons and pass through the Senate before it becomes law, but the progress is encouraging for its diverse supporters.
Section 13 of the Act makes it discriminatory to spread online messages that could expose an identifiable person or persons to hatred or contempt.
Lemire said the current legislation allows interest groups a risk-free way of attacking political opponents by censoring free speech, something he believes isn’t necessary or good for democratic society.
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15 February, 2012
"Heifer" is a bad word
A heifer is just a young cow, though I think it can mean an overweight femaleOf all the things a high school cheerleading coach should do, calling her charges "highfalutin heifers" isn't one of them. In fact, the world can now rest assured that precisely such a claim can get a cheerleading coach taken away from the team she is supposed to leadCoaches abusing poor performers is a common thing in sport but these little petals were apparently too delicate for that
As first reported by Houston TV network KPRC (and brought to Prep Rally's attention by the folks at Larry Brown Sports), the Cypress Woods (Texas) High cheerleading coach is no longer in charge of the program after a recording emerged on which she called her team "highfalutin heifers."
"Who do you think you all are?" the coach said in the recording. "Highfalutin heifers. You can just come and go as you please. Fire me!"
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Must not criticize homosexuality in Europe
No free speech there. Though if antbody had criticized Christians that would have been OKThe European Court of Human Rights declared Thursday the conviction of four Swedish men for hate speech was not a violation of their freedom of expression.
The four men, ages 19 to 24, put about 100 flyers, referring to homosexuality as a "deviant sexual proclivity" that has "a morally destructive effect on the substance of society" and is responsible for the HIV and AIDS epidemic, into student lockers in a school in Soderhamn in 2004.
They were asked to leave the premises by school officials and were later accused of promoting hate speech, The Local reported.
Swedish Supreme Court convicted all four in 2006 of agitating a minority community because students were not given the opportunity to refuse the flyers. They were given suspended sentences and fines ranging from 200 krona to 2,000 krona ($265 to $2,650).
In 2007, the men took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing the ruling violated their freedom of expression. The court called the complaint "inadmissible as being manifestly ill-founded," and said the sentence was reasonable.
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14 February, 2012
Minn. City Councilman Defends Confederate Flag Outside His Home: ‘My Free Speech'
We read:"A Minnesota city councilman has a Confederate flag hanging outside his home and says he’s not taking it down, no matter what people say. “It’s my house,” West St. Paul Councilman Ed Hansen told the Pioneer Press. “What’s the problem?”
Plenty, according to the city’s mayor, John Zanmiller. The flag, visible from a busy avenue and to visitors at a nearby park, also has the word “redneck” written across it. “I don’t like it,” Zanmiller said. “Do I wish the flag wasn’t there? Yes.”
While the mayor acknowledged he is not aware of any complaints made to the city, he reached out to Hansen on Friday about taking it down. Hansen declined, and Zanmiller acknowledged the decision is ultimately Hansen’s.
Hansen, a first-term councilman elected in 2010, told the Pioneer Press he put the flag outside his house over the summer to no complaints. He said being an elected official should not matter one way or another. “It represents sovereignty, individual rights and individual liberty,” he told the newspaper. “It’s my free speech, and that’s my choice.”
He dismissed any racist connotation the flag carries. “I’m not a racist, and I don‘t think it’s racist,” he said. “People like to play the race card, though, when they don’t get their way.”
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Free speech fear as British soccer magazine's KKK spoof banned: Thousands confiscated over Suarez race row
We read:"Police chiefs were accused of criminalising free speech yesterday with their confiscation of a satirical football fanzine.
Thousands of copies of Red Issue were seized before Saturday's heated clash between Manchester United and Liverpool.
The fanzine had tried to make fun of Liverpool and their striker Luis Suarez for his use of racist language toward United captain Patrice Evra.
Along with a spoof cut-out of a Ku Klux Klan hood were the words 'Suarez is innocent' and 'LFC' – for Liverpool Football Club.
Officers deemed this 'potentially offensive' and threatened to arrest anyone selling the fanzine. Thousands of copies were seized.
But a spokesman for campaign group Liberty said: 'It's one thing for the police to take action in fear of a riot being provoked at a tense football match. 'But threatening seizure and prosecution of the fanzine after the event is really a step too far. When lampooning racism becomes a criminal matter you realise just how dangerously broad our speech offences have become.'
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13 February, 2012
Video of 'blacked-up' comedian asking Mormon students about Black History Month sparks race row
We read:"A YouTube video that shows a white comedian 'blacking up' before interviewing students at a Mormon university campus about their knowledge of Black History Month has sparked accusations of racism.
Critics have said students at Brigham Young University - where just 176 of the 30,000 students are African American - show startling ignorance and perpetuate negative stereotypes of black people.
And stand-up comic Dave Ackerman has come under fire himself for painting his skin at the start of the four minute video - an archaic and racially-offensive theatre technique.
In the video, most of the students are unable to identify February as Black History Month.
When asked to list black people of historical note, they name actors Samuel L. Jackson and Will Smith. Others mention Malcolm X - but do not know why he is famous - and 'the lady on the bus'.
One student says he celebrates the month with 'fried chicken and grape juice', while another tells Ackerman that, when it comes to dating, he knows some people with 'jungle fever'.
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University of North Dakota resumes using Fighting Sioux nickname
We read:"Riding a wave of public support, the University of North Dakota has resumed using its "Fighting Sioux" nickname despite threats of sanctions from NCAA officials and a looming legal fight that could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We realize the NCAA will likely place us back on sanction status immediately," said Grant Shaft, president of the state's Board of Higher Education.
Supporters of the nickname, which the NCAA regards as insensitive to Native Americans, are seeking a referendum on whether to restore a law repealed in November that required UND to keep the name. The school dropped the name when the law was repealed.
Shaft was joined in his defiance by the school president, Robert Kelley, who announced Wednesday that the 14,000-student public school's athletic teams will resume using the nickname. Kelly said the school decided to resume using the nickname and logo to respect the state's referendum process, which requires that the pro-nickname law be in effect while the state reviews the more than 17,000 signatures submitted to North Dakota's secretary of state on Tuesday.
"I want to reaffirm our respect for the laws of the state and the processes guaranteed under the North Dakota Constitution," Kelley's statement read.
Shaft told FoxNews.com his office plans to meet on Monday with North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, whom he expects will advise the board of its options. Shaft said the board is likely to join Stenehjem's bid for a declaratory position from the U.S. Supreme Court on the matter.
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12 February, 2012
Must not laugh at Spanish sportsmen
A skit on their use of performance-enhancing drugs"The Spanish tennis federation said it plans to sue a French TV channel for using its logo in a video that poked fun at Rafael Nadal. In the video skit on the satirical program called The Puppets, a life-size cartoon figure of Nadal is shown urinating into a gas tank before racing off and being pulled over by police for speeding.
A message of “Spanish athletes. They don’t win by chance” flashes across the screen, surrounded by the logos of the tennis federation and cycling and soccer federations.
The video on Canal Plus France on Monday came hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a two-year ban against Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador for doping.
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Atheists Demand NC Town Remove Ten Commandments From Town Hall
Maybe they should start calling them the "Ten Suggestions". Even Christians tend to treat them that way anyhow."Atheists now have their sights set on Newland, North Carolina, where the secular Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent a letter demanding that the town remove a Ten Commandments plaque from a government office building.
In a letter sent to town manager Brenda Pittman, the group said that a local individual saw the display, was offended and would like it taken down.
The letter was brought to the attention of the Newland Town Council at Tuesday night’s meeting, and was distributed to the press. Town board members were incensed over the outside interference, and passed a motion to ask for the press to publish the letter, but took no other official action except to turn the matter—and the letter—over to the town attorney.
If the plaque is not removed, precedent would indicate that the FFRF will continue its battle against it. Generally speaking, these letters are only the first step in a slew of tactics used to ensure that religious items are removed, taken down or altered
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11 February, 2012
U.S. Marines use Nordic alphabet with Nazi associations
Runes are a family of old Northern European alphabets derived by some unknown route from early forms of the Latin alphabet. There is still some sentimental attachment to them in Northern Europe (particularly in Scandinavia) and the Nazis may in part have used them for that reason. They long predated the Nazis, however.
Like the original Latin alphabet, they were very simple shapes designed to be suitable for carving into stone and wood. The runic "S" has been compared to a lightning flash and that is probably why both the Nazis and the American troops above used it."A US Marine sniper team posed with a flag emblazoned with the symbol of the Nazi SS while on duty in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has admitted.
A photograph leaked onto the internet showed the heavily-armed troops crouching in front of the banner as it hung below the American flag.
The lightning symbol, once worn by the unit tasked with the extermination of Europe's Jews, sparked immediate outrage
A spokeswoman said the icon had been used by the troops to identify themselves as scout snipers, a designation unique to the Marine Corps, and was never intended to have Nazi connotations.
In a statement the Corps said: "Certainly, the use of the 'SS runes' is not acceptable and scout snipers have been addressed concerning this issue. 'SS runes' are prohibited from use as a symbol or any other use."
Source
Clarkson in trouble again
Because of his popularity, Clarkson is about the only man in Britain who can say what he thinks"A disfigurement charity has called for Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC to apologise after the Top Gear presenter compared the shape of a new car to “people with growths on their faces”.
In an episode of the BBC motoring show broadcast last Sunday, Mr Clarkson likened a Japanese car with a large bulge on the back to a “really ugly” growth.
He suggested that people “wouldn’t talk to [the car] at a party” and did an impression of the elephant man, the disfigured Victorian character, after fellow presenter Richard Hammond dubbed the vehicle “the elephant car”.
James Partridge, the chief executive of charity Changing Faces, said that Mr Clarkson’s comments “create a culture of ridicule and bullying” against people who are ill, disabled or have unusual features.
The charity has written a letter of complaint to Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, and the BBC, which has received 55 complaints about the broadcast.
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10 February, 2012
Google India Removes Websites Deemed Offensive By the Gov’t
We read:"With Google stating just last week that it would block content on its blog platform in certain countries while keeping it viewable in others others — Twitter also announced a similar protocol – Google India has reportedly removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders.Google did the same with China some years ago. Who will be next?
This action is to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world’s largest democracy and follows weeks of intense government pressure for 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered “anti-religious“ or ”anti-social.”
Indian officials have been incensed by material insulting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and religious groups, including illustrations showing Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions and pigs running through Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
“There is no question of any censorship,” Communications Minister Sachin Pilot said in Bangalore. “They all have to operate within the laws of the country. … There must be responsible behavior on both sides.”
Facebook India submitted a compliance report to the court Monday, but it also joined Yahoo and Microsoft in questioning its inclusion in the case, saying no specific complaints had been presented against them, PTI reported. The sites did not immediately comment after the hearing.
Prosecutors, who sued on behalf of a Muslim religious leader who accused companies of hosting pages that disparage Islam, said they would provide the companies with all relevant documents. The court gave the companies 15 more days to report back.
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Brown racist calls an Indian a "coconut"
I guess most readers here know it already but a "coconut" is brown on the outside and white on the inside. It is a condemnation of adopting mainstream (white) values."A leading force in football's battle against racism has been criticised after he called an Asian supporter a 'coconut'.
Piara Powar, who is the executive director of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) organisation, has been a vocal figure in the game's recent rows.
But an exchange on Twitter has left Mr Powar, who is also Asian, embroiled in a race controversy of his own making.
Liverpool fan Parmjit Singh, 34, tweeted @piarapower: 'Interesting how u haven't given your opinion on the news that a £mufc fan was arrested on Wednesday for alleged racial abuse.'
He received a staggering reply from Mr Powar, who used Twitter's private messaging function to contact Mr Singh, which said: 'Get lost Singh. Have no false consciousness. Don't be a coconut.'
Mr Singh was referring to Manchester United fan Howard Hobson, 57, who was today fined £200 for chanting racist abuse at a black Stoke City player during a match on January 31.
Mr Powar had earlier condemned Liverpool FC and the way it handled the Luis Suarez affair - where the striker was banned for eight games after being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra during a match against Manchester United in October.
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9 February, 2012
GLAAD Wants CNN’s Roland Martin Fired Over Alleged Anti-Gay Super Bowl Tweets
Roland Martin
We read:"CNN’s Roland Martin is under fire following some controversial tweets he sent during the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has called Martin out and is actively advocating for the network to fire him.It's no secret what most blacks think of homosexuals so GLAAD have a point but an attempt to censor blacks might backfire on them. They could be called "racist"! (They probably are).
The incident commenced when Martin sent out a tweet, reading, “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad smack the ish out of him!” After seeing this message, GLAAD, among other gay advocates, was less-than-pleased.
After realizing the fury that followed what he thought were harmless social media quips, Martin released a statement to media and the public. He defended his tweets and claimed that they had nothing at all to do with homosexuality:
"I made several cracks about soccer as I do all the time. I was not referring to sexuality directly or indirectly regarding the David Beckham ad, and I’m sorry folks took it otherwise."
GLAAD, though, isn’t buying the excuse. The organization is calling for CNN to fire Martin, proclaiming — very directly — that “CNN should fire Roland Martin.” A portion of their blog post on the matter highlights a number of other insensitive statements the group claims he’s made. It reads:
"Roland Martin has never compared being a soccer fan to being an alcoholic, the way he has compared being gay to being an alcoholic. Roland Martin has never bragged that his wife has led men and women away from the “soccer lifestyle,” the way he claims she has with gay people. Roland Martin has never defended jokes about parents stabbing soccer-playing children, the way he defended jokes about parents stabbing gay children."
Source
Update: He is now out.
It's taken time but even sportsmen are now being ground down into political correctness
We read:"It was a complete no-brainer, but props to the Atlanta Braves for placing a new crossed tomahawk logo on the sleeve of their new weekend alternates. The cream-colored throwbacks — which the baseball world learned about a few weeks ago — are based on the uniforms that the team first wore after moving to Atlanta in the 1960s.How long will it be before the team are told that the name "Braves" is incorrect? Will it be changed to "Alternatively motivated person"?
The jerseys of those less-enlightened times featured a savage on the sleeve and it's a wonder that anyone ever thought the image was OK. The logo strips Native Americans of any humanity and turns them into a one-dimensional character devoid of any sympathy or tribute.
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The old logo is not as bad as they say above. Acting in a frightening way was a common part of conflict between warring tribes. You may see New Zealand's Maori doing their "Haka" before a Rugby football game on TV some time. They look a lot the guy in the older patch above.
8 February, 2012
Conceited young far-Leftist insults the Queen
The Queen is much-loved in Britain so you would have to be full of yourself to say such things. But Leftists ARE generally full of themselves. He also appears to be of Maltese extraction so may not like Britain generally."An aide to a shadow minister was yesterday forced to apologise for a ‘shameful slur’ which likened the Queen to a benefit scrounger.He is of course entitled to express his opinion but he also must wear any condemnation of it. As it is he appears to have suffered little in the way of consequences, other than having killed off any future political aspirations he may have had. Even a return to Malta might not help him. Malta is a member of the British Commonwealth and the Queen is generally held in high esteem there.
Matt Zarb-Cousin, who works for shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter, provoked outrage by suggesting the Queen had been ‘scrounging benefits off the taxpayer’ for 60 years.
As the Queen marked 60 years on the throne, Mr Zarb-Cousin wrote on Twitter: ‘Congratulations this morning to Queen Elizabeth II. 60 years of scrounging benefits off the taxpayer without being caught.’
But Mr Zarb-Cousin, who is also on the left-wing Fabian society’s youth committee, was later forced to apologise after he was given a dressing down by his bosses.
Labour sources said that the aide had been given a ‘carpeting’ after Mr Slaughter became aware of his controversial remarks.
Describing his behaviour as ‘totally unacceptable’, the Shadow Justice minister said: ‘The Queen has given great service to our country and these comments are totally unacceptable.
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Academic sparks outcry for comparing Britain's colonisation of New Zealand to Holocaust
We read:"A leading academic has sparked outrage after comparing the Holocaust that killed six million Jews to Britain's colonisation of New Zealand. Language lecturer Keri Opai claimed that New Zealand's native indigenous Maori were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following the 'holocaust' of British rule.What is usually glided over is that it was Maori killing Maori that was the major cause of death after the British arrival. The Maori were vastly impressed by guns and gladly traded land for guns -- which they then used to kill off neighboring Maori tribes. It was in fact only British influence that eventually brought peace.
But last night the President of the New Zealand Jewish Council slammed the Maori academic for 'trivialising state sponsored genocide'.
During the New Zealand Wars of 1845-1872, which saw the Maori defended their tribal lands from British colonial forces, 20,000 Maori were killed while hundreds of thousands more were driven from their homes.
The debate on national identity was part of a special broadcast on Waitangi Day - the holiday that marks the signing of the first treaty between representatives of the British Crown and M?ori chiefs in 1840.
The document has always been disputed because the English and M?ori versions of the treaty differed significantly. The British believed it gave it sovereignty over New Zealand and gave their appointed Governor the legal power to rule the country.
But M?ori believed they ceded to the Crown a right of governance in return for protection, without giving up their authority to manage their own affairs.
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7 February, 2012
Wrong to portray a woman in China as not speaking fluent English?
We read:"The portrayal of a young Asian woman speaking broken English in a Super Bowl ad being run by U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra against Michigan incumbent Debbie Stabenow is bringing charges of racial insensitivity.
“Some Asian-Americans may be offended by the stereotype that is portrayed in the spot,” said Robert Kolt, who teaches advertising part-time at Michigan State University and had previewed a number of Sunday’s Super Bowl ads. “Pete seems like a nice guy in the ad, but I think he is wasting a lot of money now.
The 30-second ad was filmed in California and never mentions China directly. It opens with the sound of a gong and shows a young Asian woman riding a bike on a narrow path lined by rice paddies. Stopping her bike, the woman smiles into the camera and says:
“Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow.”
The scene then shifts to Hoekstra telling viewers near a cozy fire, “I think this race is between Debbie Spenditnow and Pete Spenditnot.”
The Hoekstra campaign set up a website, www.DebbieSpendItNow.com , that features the ad and includes Chinese writing, paper lanterns, parade dragons and Stabenow’s face on a Chinese fan. It accuses the Democratic senator of “pouring American dollars into the Chinese economy.”
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School ban on Christian advertising overturned
We read:"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — In the wake of a federal court order that halted a Pulaski County Special School District flier policy, district officials have settled a lawsuit with Alliance Defense Fund attorneys representing a 3rd-grade student and her mother who had been denied permission to distribute fliers for church-sponsored activities.
“All students should have the freedom to express their beliefs. The Constitution clearly prohibits bans that single out a religious viewpoint,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Matt Sharp. “This settlement means that fliers for ‘church-related’ activities will be treated with the same respect given to fliers for numerous other community programs and events.”
In October 2009, a Sherwood Elementary School 3rd-grade student and her mother requested permission to distribute fliers inviting friends and classmates to a church-sponsored swimming event the following month at a local pool. School officials, including Sherwood Elementary School’s principal, said that the fliers could not be distributed because they were “church-related.” However, the district freely permitted fliers promoting numerous other activities, such as ones sponsored by the 4-H Club, Boy & Girl Scouts, local youth sports teams, karate lessons, summer camps, book and consignment sales, and PTA fundraisers at local restaurants.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, issued a preliminary injunction that halted the policy in March of last year. The court wrote, “Indeed, the record clearly shows that defendants’ regulations, as presently enforced, merely stamp out certain viewpoint-based speech.”
To settle the suit, district officials eliminated its ban on “church-related” fliers, which may now be distributed by students during non-instructional time at school and which also may be included with all other community fliers at a table or distribution rack near each school’s front entrance. The district also agreed to pay for the student’s attorneys’ fees.
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6 February, 2012
‘Ex-Gay’ Flyer Stirs Controversy at Maryland High School
We read:"A flyer sent home with some Maryland high school students sparked controversy this week because of its message to teenagers that no one is “born gay.”Good to see that she knows what the societal view is.
The one-page flyer, from a group called “Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays,” was distributed to students at Albert Einstein High School in Montgomery County, Md. and claimed that each year, “thousands of people with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave a gay identity,”
According to WTTG, the letter was sent home in compliance with the school board’s policy on flyer distribution, which says that if a group can prove it is a nonprofit organization, it can distribute flyers to students four times a year.
Karen Yount-Merrell, a clinical social worker, told WTTG she was disturbed when one of the flyers came home with her son. “I don’t like it,” she told the station. “Everything in this flyer make its sound like the goal is to be [an] ex-gay, [or an ex]-lesbian. It is not embracing of a different orientation. It reiterates a societal view that there‘s something ’wrong‘ with you if you’re not in the norm. If you aren’t heterosexual.”
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Generalizations about English Northerners criticized
We read:"A Tory MP has ignited a row after claiming northerners die earlier than those in the south because they smoke too much, drink too much - and 'jump into bed with each other at the drop of a hat'.What she said is broadly true but she would have been less open to criticism if she had prefaced her remarks with "In general" or some such. Many Northerners do behave wisely.
Public health minister Anne Milton - whose Guildford constituency lies in the Surrey stockbroker belt - argued that 'widespread changes in behaviour' such as stopping smoking and practising 'safe sex' would help lower death rates in the north of England.
Her comments came after the British Heart Foundation released new statistics revealing people living in the north-east are more likely to die of heart disease than their southern counterparts.
At a Commons debate last week about bad health in the region, former nurse Ms Milton said: 'The major part of poor health will be remedied only by widespread changes in behaviour.
Professor Stephen Singleton, medical director at NHS North of England, said that over the past decade the number of people dying from heart disease in the north-east has reduced faster than anywhere else in the country due to the reduction in the number of people smoking and better care for people who have heart attacks.
Labour's Chi Onwurah said Ms Milton's arrogant comments ignored the fact that poor health is often associated with poverty.
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WHO she was also made her remarks offensive. England has all sorts of social divisions that are taken very seriously and one of them is the North/South divide, with the North being poorer and Southerners looking down on them. She is from "South of Watford". People from the Home Counties (around London) tend to see "North of Watford" as another country, populated by less civilized people. Watford is a railway junction at the Northern end of the Home Counties.
English migrants to Australia are mostly from outside the Home Counties. They like being in a place where they are not looked down upon. And people from the Home Counties tend not to migrate because nothing could replace London. New Yorkers tend to feel the same about NYC.
Update
Perhaps I should ramble on a little about the perceived attractions of NYC
JAPs (Jewish American Princesses) in particular are afraid to be out of NYC for more than a few hours in case they miss a social occasion where "Mr Right" turns up. He rarely does but hope springs eternal. And Irving can't leave because he has "prospects" and not being immediately there when a prospect seems to be about to be realized would be criminal.
Time wounds all heels however and the savage NYC climate with deep-frozen winters and stifling summers takes its toll. And when you get old the winters are very punishing. Winters do tend to kill old people. So rather than wait for Global Warming, lots of Yiddisher Mommas drag their man (if they still have one) off to the rat's mouth (Boca Raton in Florida), where they do their best to recreate New York society as they knew it
But what about Irving back in NYC? He needs lots of advice so the phones run hot. And they almost melt if he is dating a shicksa! ("Why are you doing this to me?")
We all know that "shicksa" is a derogatory term for a non-Jewish female but Jews tend to be coy about what it actually means. So I am going to let the cat out of the bag: It is a Yiddish/German word for "prostitute"
So you see that climate can be a lot of bother. Bring on global warming!
5 February, 2012
Conservatives must not compare far-Left demonstrators to Nazis
We read:"Far-right Austrian politicians were widely criticized Monday for comparing protests against a fancy ball that attracts extremists to the Nazis' persecution of Jews.
Vienna's Jewish community demanded an investigation into the remarks but the Freedom Pary insisted no harm was meant.
The comments by Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache and an associate were first reported Sunday on the website of the daily Der Standard, but they drew little attention until Monday.
The furor extended the controversy over Friday's far-right ball, which attracts guests who include the neo-Nazi fringe and was held this year on the same day the world pays tribute to victims of the Holocaust.
Police recorded only isolated violent incidents Friday from demonstrators outside the Viennese palace where the ball was being held. But Strache was quoted as saying the violence was "like Kristallnacht," referring to the 1938 anti-Semitic riots across Germany and parts of Austria that left streets strewn with broken glass from the windows of Jewish-owned property and synagogues. Kristallnacht was an ominous sign of the Holocaust to follow.
"We are the new Jews," Strache declared to other ball guests, according to Austrian media.
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Must not mention differences between black and white dress
We read:"French Elle magazine has apologised for an article posted on its website which suggested that a black American elite, inspired by the Obamas, was finally embracing ‘white’ fashion.
Fashion blogger Nathalie Dolivo claims in the piece that the Obamas are the catalyst for a ‘black fashion renaissance’ and suggests America’s first black president has given the black community a ‘chic’ option other than ‘streetwear codes’.
'In 2012, the 'black-geoisie' has integrated all the white codes ... but with a twist, bourgeois with an ethnic reference that recalls their roots,' she argued.
Elle editor Valerie Toranian published an online apology, saying the magazine was ‘deeply sorry’ to have caused offence.
Source
4 February, 2012
Occupy Supporter Demands ‘We Support Our Troops’ Sign Be Taken Down From MN Building
We read:"An Occupy supporter in Little Falls, Minnesota, is demanding that a “We Support Our Troops” sign be removed from a building in her hometown. The woman, named Robin Hensel, is taking this combative action after city officials told her she needed to remove an excessive number of signs and posters that were once present in her frontyard.
According to officials, residents are only legally allowed to display one sign on their property — a city code that Hansel takes particular issue with. So, in response to the city’s code enforcement, she has set her sights on the pro-troop sign, which she says also violates local code.
Of the town’s “Support Our Troops” sign, she says that city code requires both a permit and approval from the city’s historic preservation committee. Hensel says that the banner has neither and, thus, it should be taken down. But her issue with the mural transcends the mere code violations.
City officials plan to take up Hansel’s complaints about the banner at the next city council meeting on Feb. 6.
Source
Google joins Twitter in censorship storm: Site may now block blog posts in line with requests from oppressive regimes
We read:"Google's informal motto is 'don't be evil', but a huge change to its Blogger service could see the search giant help oppressive governments stamp out voices of protest.Not an easy decision. Google and Twitter are saying: "Better half a loaf than none at all". And keeping the content up in other countries will keep it available to savvy web users who can get around controls
Bloggers who have relied on the popular service to organise dissent as seen during the Arab Spring could find their posts being blocked by Google itself.
The company will now block posts or blogs from being seen in a country if they break their local laws, handing a victory to regimes that crack down on free speech to keep a lid on dissent.
The move has caused widespread concern - and echoes Twitter's recent decision to block Tweets on a similar 'per country' basis to comply with local laws.
Twitter was credited with the change of regime in Egypt last year, where the site was used to co-ordinate protests. Both Google and Twitter have now agreed to take down posts that violate local laws
'If more and more companies follow the lead of Google and Twitter, as seems quite likely, it could represent the beginning of the end of the truly global Internet,' says Techdirt
But Google claims that the move will actually allow more freedom of speech. The blogs will be visible from everywhere else in the world, but invisible in one country.
'This will allow us to continue promoting free expression while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests in local law,' said the company.
Blogger, a blogging service which launched in 1999, and was bought by Google in 2003, has previously been banned outright in repressive regimes such as Syria, Iran and China.
Neither Google nor Twitter are currently available in China due to the censorship demands of the government.
Google 'buried' its policy change in a page of technical information about Blogger changing to separate internet domains for each country. Previously, Blogger has been handled through one international domain.
Source
A lot of people in China get around Chinese controls. All my blogs are viewable in China because I post mirror copies at addresses that China does not block.
3 February, 2012
Anti- “Mammy” Mom Could Face Time for Booing
We read:"Last spring, a parent in the audience at a middle school recital was so moved by the children’s performances that she couldn’t help but to stand up...and boo."Mammy" was a well-known Al Jolson song and Jolson was known for the support and help he gave to black entertainers
Jackie Carter, a local stage director, attended an April 29 production of the Bowen McCauley Dance Company held at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Va., where her daughter attends school, and was outraged by one of the group's skits, “Little Rabbit, Where’s Your Mammy?”
Innocent sounding, sure. But picture this: At a middle school dance performance, children act out a skit featuring an antebellum African-American wet-nurse, or “mammy.” For a black theater buff like Carter, it was too much to take.
And depending on the verdict of her trial that begins April 23, she may face up to a year in jail for doing so.
According to the Afro, the presentation was promoted as a “tribute to American folk culture traditions.”
The school’s principal circulated a letter after the incident on May 2 of last year, stating that the term "mammy" is a “colloquial affectionate term used for mother or grandmother.”
Source
Must not condemn flag burners
Australia. The flag burners were Aborigines (blacks)"A Labor [party] politician last night last night slammed her colleague for calling a group of children who burned the Australian flag "little pricks".
Marion Scrymgour hit back at Rob Knight after he made the remark during a radio interview on Monday. "His comments are not helpful at all, and I don't think Rob's little army should carry on this emotional debate," she said on Facebook. Ms Scrymgour was responding to a post from one of Mr Knight's supporters, congratulating him for his stance.
Mr Knight last night said he stood by his comments. "I absolutely condemn the burning of our flag," he said. "I don't believe any cause has ever been served well by burning any flag."
The minister was inundated with public support yesterday with scores of Territorians flooding the NT News website and social networking sites to back the politician over his controversial remarks.
SOURCE
2 February, 2012
British bus drivers must not call passengers 'babe'
We read:"A bus company is a warning drivers to not call passengers 'babe' in a bid to avoid lawsuits from offended women. Brighton & Hove Buses posted warnings to drivers in its head offices after a complaint from a woman who said she felt insulted by being called 'babe' when she boarded a bus."Babe" is always complimentary as far as I know so the woman who was offended must have had "issues".
The company also warned drivers they could face the sack if they call passengers 'love' or 'darling'.
One employee, who did not want to be named, said: 'It's just the height of political correctness. The drivers know how to best speak to customers. 'People don't want their drivers to be robots. What is the world coming to when you can't have a bit of friendly banter with passengers?'
Managing director Roger French said: 'A lady complained to us that she thought the language used by a driver was demeaning to her.
Source
Outside the Home Counties in England it is quite common for people to address one-another with terms of endearment -- with "Love" being the most common of such terms -- as it is in Australia. It is rather like the Southern U.S. "Honey" or "Hon". My favourite is one area where women commonly address one another as "M'dook" (My duck)!
‘Blasphemous’ UK Film Featuring Jesus Being Seduced on the Cross Approved 23 Years After Being Banned
This sounds pretty sick but as long as people are warned well in advance about the nature of the film, I see no reason to ban it. If you don't like it, don't buy a ticket. If you do buy a ticket, it says something about youA victory for freedom of expression? The only movie ever banned in Britain for blasphemy was finally approved for distribution Tuesday, 23 years after it was outlawed.
The experimental short film “Visions of Ecstasy” features scenes of Jesus being seduced on the cross and became a free-speech cause celebre after Britain’s film censors refused to give it a rating, a requirement for legal distribution.
The British Board of Film Classification ruled in 1989 that a fantasy scene in which the Spanish mystic St. Teresa of Avila sexually caresses Christ’s body could constitute blasphemous libel. The board judged that cutting out the potentially blasphemous material would shorten the 19-minute film by half, so they refused to approve it.
Blasphemy was abolished as an offense in 2008 and on Tuesday the film board gave Wingrove’s film an “18” rating, meaning it may be viewed by adults.
The board acknowledged the film would be “deeply offensive to some viewers,” but was unlikely to cause harm.
Source
1 February, 2012
Regulatory Czar wants to use copyright protection mechanisms to shut down "rumors and conspiracy theories"
But what if the rumors and theories are true? Cass Sunstein doesn't care, it would seem. Truth is not only no defence, it is not even to be tested in a court: The government just decides you are wrong and you get shut down.This is a good time to remember the other activities that Obama’s “regulatory czar” Cass Sunstein wants to shut down using the tools of copyright protection. For a couple of years now, Sunstein has been advocating that the “notice and take down” model from copyright law should be used against rumors and conspiracy theories, “to achieve the optimal chilling effect.”
What kinds of conspiracy theories does Sunstein want to suppress by law? Here’s one: "… that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud." [From page 4 of Sunstein's 2008 "Conspiracy Theories" paper.]
At present, limits on speech are governed by libel law. For statements about public figures, libel requires not just that an accusation must be false, but that it must have been: "… made with ‘actual malice’—that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard to whether it was false or not". [New York Times v. Sullivan, 1964]
The purpose of the “actual malice” standard is to leave wide latitude for errant statements, which free public debate obviously requires. Sunstein thinks that room-for error stuff is given too much weight. He’d like it to see errant statements expunged. From Sunstein’s 2009 book On Rumors (page 78): "On the Internet in particular, people might have a right to ‘notice and take down.’ [T]hose who run websites would be obliged to take down falsehoods upon notice."
Further, “propagators” would face a “liability to establish what is actually true” (ibid).
Source
Australian public broadcaster under fire for vilifying Christians
We read:"In the satirical interview, John Clarke poses as a mental health professional - apparently being questioned by Brian Dawe on the psychological damage caused by lengthy processing of asylum seekers.Video at link
But in a twist, it is revealed they are actually discussing how long politicians stay in office before they are finally voted out:
Dawe: A lot of them must realise the damage they are doing?
Clarke: Oh, they do. A lot of them are Christians.
Dawe: So there would be a lot of guilt?
Clarke: A lot of guilt. A lot of denial.
Dawe: Look what they are doing to the asylum seekers.
Source
Australian law is very sweeping in its provisions about racial vilification. It says: "It is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if: (a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and (b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group"
But there is no similar prohibition against religious vilification that I know of. So this complaint is unlikely to go anywhere beyond the bureaucracy.
Even if the Act did apply to religion, it has extensive exemptions. Exempted in Section 18d, for instance, are comments made "in the course of any statement, publication, discussion or debate made or held for any genuine academic, artistic or scientific purpose or any other genuine purpose in the public interest".
One would have thought that the above exemption provided a complete defence for conservative columnist Andrew Bolt in the prosecution recently brought against him. That judge Mordechai Bromberg did not accept that defence and proceeded to convict Bolt is thus incomprehensible in terms of what the law says. It can, as far as I can see, be explained only as a political judgement, akin to many of the judgments handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Even some Leftists were disturbed by Bromberg's extremism.
Given the pervasive Leftism of diaspora Jews, however, I suppose judge Bromberg's judgment and the accompanying tortured reasoning were to be expected. Jews are heavily represented in the Australian judiciary so I suppose we have to be glad that not many politically-relevant cases come before them. Leftism and law don't seem to go well together.
Posts from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
"HATE SPEECH" is free speech: The U.S. Supreme Court stated the general rule regarding protected speech in Texas v. Johnson (109 S.Ct. at 2544), when it held: "The government may not prohibit the verbal or nonverbal expression of an idea merely because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable." Federal courts have consistently followed this. Said Virginia federal district judge Claude Hilton: "The First Amendment does not recognize exceptions for bigotry, racism, and religious intolerance or ideas or matters some may deem trivial, vulgar or profane."
Even some advocacy of violence is protected by the 1st Amendment. In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that speech advocating violent illegal actions to bring about social change is protected by the First Amendment "except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."
The traditional advice about derogatory speech: "Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you". Apparently people today are not as emotionally robust as their ancestors were.
A phobia is an irrational fear, so the terms "Islamophobic" and "homophobic" embody a claim that the people so described are mentally ill. There is no evidence for either claim. Both terms are simply abuse masquerading as diagnoses and suggest that the person using them is engaged in propaganda rather than in any form of rational or objective discourse.
Leftists often pretend that any mention of race is "racist" -- unless they mention it, of course. But leaving such irrational propaganda aside, which statements really are racist? Can statements of fact about race be "racist"? Such statements are simply either true or false. The most sweeping possible definition of racism is that a racist statement is a statement that includes a negative value judgment of some race. Absent that, a statement is not racist, for all that Leftists might howl that it is. Facts cannot be racist so nor is the simple statement of them racist. Here is a statement that cannot therefore be racist by itself, though it could be false: "Blacks are on average much less intelligent than whites". If it is false and someone utters it, he could simply be mistaken or misinformed.
Whatever your definition of racism, however, a statement that simply mentions race is not thereby racist -- though one would think otherwise from American Presidential election campaigns. Is a statement that mentions dogs, "doggist" or a statement that mentions cats, "cattist"?
Was Abraham Lincoln a racist? "You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this be admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated. It is better for both, therefore, to be separated." -- Spoken at the White House to a group of black community leaders, August 14th, 1862
The spirit of liberty is "the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." and "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it." -- Judge Learned Hand
Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean
It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.
It seems a pity that the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus is now little known. Remember, wrote the Stoic thinker, "that foul words or blows in themselves are no outrage, but your judgment that they are so. So when any one makes you angry, know that it is your own thought that has angered you. Wherefore make it your endeavour not to let your impressions carry you away."
"Since therefore the knowledge and survey of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human virtue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with less danger, scout into the regions of sin and falsity than by reading all manner of tractates, and hearing all manner of reason?" -- English poet John Milton (1608-1674) in Areopagitica
Hate speech is verbal communication that induces anger due to the listener's inability to offer an intelligent response
Leftists can try to get you fired from your job over something that you said and that's not an attack on free speech. But if you just criticize something that they say, then that IS an attack on free speech
"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper
Why are Leftists always talking about hate? Because it fills their own hearts
Leftists don't have principles. How can they when "there is no such thing as right and wrong"? All they have is postures, pretend-principles that can be changed as easily as one changes one's shirt
When you have an argument with a Leftist, you are not really discussing the facts. You are threatening his self esteem. Which is why the normal Leftist response to challenge is mere abuse.
The naive scholar who searches for a consistent Leftist program will not find it. What there is consists only in the negation of the present.
The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) could have been speaking of much that goes on today when he said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
