Connecticut Marines Fight for 'Don't Trend on Me' Flag Display



We read:

"A group of retired Marines is asking Connecticut's attorney general to allow the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden flag to fly over the state Capitol on July 4 after Capitol Police refused the request saying it doesn’t fall within the state’s flag flying parameters.

The group says the the yellow banner, which sports a coiled rattlesnake and its trademark motto, is the original flag of the U.S. Marine Corps and clearly fits into the section of the policy which states that the Connecticut State Capitol can fly “flags of recognized military organizations of the U.S.A.”

But Capitol Police have denied several requests to fly the flag -- which has become a favorite nationwide among the Tea Party movement and a popular alternative to the stars and stripes – saying it is not the official Marines flag.

But the policy wasn’t always so strictly interpreted. The Society of Cincinnati, a historic group dedicated to preserving the ideals of the American Revolution has flown its flag over the Capitol every July 4 since at least 1968. It was denied this year amid the Gadsden flag flap.

Capitol Police even approved an earlier request to fly the Gadsden Flag over the Capitol in April, but reconsidered after lawmakers dubbed it a political symbol due to Tea Party connections to the request and said it didn’t fit the state’s requirements.

Source

Hate speech against Catholics in Australia

She'd be fired for saying anything similar about Islam. Rather amazing that a major commercial TV station risked alienating so many of their audience. About 25% of Australians identify as Catholics

"Channel 10’s ‘The 7PM Project’ and one of its presenters Kitty Flanagan have caused major offence to Catholics and Catholic groups all over the country.

MsFlanagan began her segment firstly by dismissing religion as ‘fiction’, and then moved on to ridiculing the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Eucharist, by suggesting Catholics drank blood like vampires. She then proceeded to further mock and ridicule religious teaching, paying special attention to Catholicism.

Source

Flanagan is of course an Irish name so perhaps she is another example of the old saying that there is no anti-Catholic like an ex-Catholic.

I myself was brought up in Presbyterian traditions at a time when many Presbyterians harboured a strong suspicion that "old red socks" (the Pope) was the antichrist -- but now that I have put aside such foolish things, I have met several men of great holiness among the Roman priesthood -- plus some that I would not let a child near -- so I treat Catholicism with great respect these days. I even sent my son to Catholic schools in order to be sure he got at least the basics of the Christian story.

Dumb Joe gets abusive

He seems to think that a call for lower taxes is insulting

"US Vice President Joe Biden called the manager of a frozen custard shop outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin a "smartass" after the man asked him to lower taxes.

FOXNews.com said Mr Biden made the comment after the Kopp's Frozen Custard shop manager told him that his dessert would be on the house if he lowered taxes. "What do we owe you?" Mr Biden is heard saying in footage captured by WISN-TV. "Don’t worry, it's on us," the manager replied. "Lower our taxes and we'll call it (the custard) even."

"Why don't you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time," Mr Biden said a few minutes later.

Source

Staten Island mosque controversy

Muslims seem to think they can just demand reespect. Respect has to be earned. And not many Americans are going to respect pro-terror preaching in their own backyard.

"Those opposed to a planned mosque in Midland Beach are consumed by bigotry and hatred, a Muslim American Society leader said yesterday. Ibrahim Ramey, the human civil rights director for MAS’ advocacy arm, the MAS Freedom National, accused some Staten Islanders of engaging in a “ferocious attack” against Muslims based on stereotyping and prejudice. “When stripped of all the propaganda, innuendo, and flat-out lies, the issue is simply one of religious bigotry and hatred,” he said, in a letter issued to the media.

Ramey was referring to the pushback from neighbors of St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church, which agreed to sell a portion of its property to MAS for a mosque and community center. Along with concerns about traffic and parking, residents said they fear MAS is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been questioned for terrorist practices.

In the past week, residents have staged rallies protesting the sale, and the pastor who initially made the agreement, the Rev. Keith Fennessy, withdrew his support.

Bill Owens, a Midland Beach resident who has been very vocal in his opposition to MAS, said the group was wrong to characterize residents as full of hatred.

“We’re not racist or bigots,” he said. “The five firefighters from our neighborhood, they didn’t stop at the door of the World Trade Center and ask what sex, color and religion they were. They went into the building and perished. St. Margaret Mary’s just had their eighth-grade graduation and there were Muslim children who graduated. We’re not anti-Muslim, we’re anti-terrorist. Everybody says we’re Islamaphobes. No, we have a ‘terrorphobia.’”

Owens went on to say that residents received a lot of support at their rallies protesting the mosque — even from Muslims. “We’ve had Muslims come up to us and say, ‘Don’t let this organization move in here, they’re evil.’

Source

Homosexual hate speech

We read:

"A group of about 35 journalists, politicians and members of Toronto’s Jewish community gathered at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre this morning in reaction against Pride Toronto’s (PT) June 23 decision not to censor the term Israeli apartheid from this year’s Pride celebration.

It was a press conference held by gay lawyer Martin Gladstone and “representatives of the organized Jewish community.” Seated with Gladstone at a long table were representatives from the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canada-Israel Committee, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, and mayoral candidates Rocco Rossi, Giorgio Mammoliti and Rob Ford.

Gladstone said he will resume lobbying Pride’s corporate sponsors, warning them, “You can’t separate the message of a sponsor from what happens in the Pride Parade.”

Source

If you want to see apartheid in the Middle East, go to Saudi Arabia and experience the severe restrictions on Christians there. There is nothing similar in Israel.

A Republican ignoramus

He calls himself a redneck but that defames rednecks. Sikhs and some Muslims wear cloth headcoverings but Sikhs are a warrior people with a proud history of indomitable resistance to Islam and nobody who knew anything about Sikhs would mistake a Sikh turban for Muslim garb.

"On June 4 2010 during an internet political talk show, South Carolina Senator John M. Knotts Jr., repeatedly used the term “raghead” while referring to State Representative Nikki Haley, searing the consciousness of Sikh and Muslim communities in South Carolina and throughout the nation.

Haley is of Sikh descent and converted to Christianity when she was 24. The racially charged comments were targeted at Haley because she was running for the GOP nomination for Governor for the State of South Carolina, which she eventually won.

Staff Attorney Hansdeep Singh stated that “Senator Knotts’ own words reveal a deep seeded mistrust and anger towards those with external religious identities, even when he is ignorant about the group he is attacking. This is evidenced by his comments that ‘we’re are at war over there,’ as he erroneously tried to make a link between Ms. Haley’s turban wearing Sikh father and the war being waged against terrorists.

More here

Knotts now seems to be on the road to being thrown out of the GOP as offending Sikhs really is quite unforgiveable. The term "raghead" seems a fairly mild expletive to me but if it is offensive to your friends it is brainless.

Rep. Haley's conversion to Christianity is also deserving of respect. Like Christianity, Sikhism is a monotheistic faith and the move from Sikhism to Christianity is not a long road. Although it has its origins in the 15th century, Sikhism is in fact a rather modern religion in that Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender.

Atheist Billboards Stir Debate in Florida

We read:

"Atheists of Florida, a group that advocates the separation of church and state, put up five signs Wednesday in Lakeland, targeting the area’s devout Christian population, MyFoxTampaBay.com reported.

Members of the organization's Lakeland chapter say they aren’t looking to convert Christians to atheism, but send a message this Fourth of July that atheists are Americans, too.

"There's quite a strong representation of religion out here and we feel that this is really where the message should be," Atheists of Florida president John Kieffer told the TV station.

The billboards read "one nation... indivisible," excluding the phrase "under God." The reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance was added by federal law in 1954, on Flag Day.

One of the billboards stands across from a VFW Post, and Vietnam veteran David Kissell told the station he thinks it's a disgrace to our country. "Our nation was formed under God and its principles, and it's a shame we allow this to happen in our neighborhoods," Kissell said.

Source

Must not speak lightly of oil spills



What next will be "wrong"?

"A new airline ad featuring scantily clad women has been slammed for poking fun at the BP oil disaster. A series of photos featuring oil-drenched women in bikinis appears on the Spirit Airlines’ website with the slogan: "Check Out The Oil On Our Beaches."

The women are accompanied by a green-and-yellow bottle of "Best Protection" 50 SPF sunscreen, with the B and P highlighted to stand out. The ads are promoting a $50 discount on travel to the carrier's coastal destinations: Cancun; Mexico; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Atlantic City.

Source

Another appalling decision from SCOTUS

This is going to gut people's willingness to put their names to a petition

"Those who sign a petition to place an issue of public dispute onto a statewide ballot may not later claim a broad First Amendment shield of anonymity to prevent disclosure of their names to the public, the US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. In an 8-to-1 decision, the high court said public disclosure of referendum petitions does not as a general matter violate the First Amendment.

But the court also stressed that under certain circumstances, petition signers may be able to remain anonymous. ‘Those resisting disclosure can prevail under the First Amendment if they can show a reasonable probability that the compelled disclosure [of personal information] will subject them to threats, harassment, or reprisals from either government officials or private parties,’ Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion in a case called Doe v. Reed.

The issue arose in Washington State after a group opposed to same-sex marriage sought to repeal a recently passed domestic partnership law. The group wanted the law to reflect that marriage and related legal benefits could only be between a man and a woman.”

Source

A fuller discussion of the decision here.

Students Sue Over Removal of American Flag T-shirts

We read:

"Four California high school students who were forced to remove their American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Morgan Hill Unified School District.

While other students at the school wore clothing depicting the
colors of the Mexican flag and other attire related to the holiday, the four students and one other were told by a school administrator that they could wear the shirts any other day but May 5, which celebrates the Mexican army's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla.

The students’ attorney, William J. Becker Jr., said state law explicitly grants students the right to exercise freedom of speech by wearing “buttons, badges, and other insignia” and prohibits public schools from interfering with their speech rights unless a “clear and present danger” exists, such as the commission of unlawful acts on school premises, the violation of school rules or substantial disruption of the school’s orderly
operation.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has held for decades that students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gates,” said Becker. "Students who wish to show their pride for another nation’s heritage should not have their speech protected more than those who celebrate America’s."

The lawsuit was filed against the district and also names the principal and assistant principal as defendants.... School district officials reversed the school administrator's decision, calling the incident "extremely unfortunate."

Source

Connecticut School Removes "Lord" Reference in High School Diplomas

Hatred of Christianity marches on:

"Seniors at a New Haven, Conn., high school will not be graduating “in the year of our Lord” this year – or any future years, according to the superintendent of schools. The school district has removed the traditional phrase from high school diplomas after someone complained.

“It’s a religious thing,” Superintendent Reginald Mayo told the
New Haven Register. “I’m surprised it took this long for someone to notice it. We certainly don’t want to offend anyone.”

Last year, former alderwoman Ina Silverman filed a complaint about “in the year of our Lord" when her daughter was a student at Wilbur Cross High School. According to the newspaper, Silverman took her concerns to the mayor, who then asked the superintendent to remove the words.

But the move has outraged a number of people across the city – especially in the Christian community. Local resident Betsy Claro called the decision “hideous.” “I do believe that it’s a travesty to keep removing the Lord’s name,” the mother of three told FOX News Radio. “I believe that our nation was founded on the principles of belief in God, and our Founding Fathers made sure it was incorporated into every document that they produced.”

Donohue told FOX News Radio he doesn’t buy into the argument that the words have been censored to avoid offending people. “To base this decision, in part, on the need not to ‘offend anyone,’ is disingenuous – it offends beyond belief the vast majority of Americans,” Donohue said.

Source

It is disappointing that a Jew initiated this. To them Jesus is not of course "our Lord" and they have their own calendar -- but the complaint is a very ungracious response to Christian support for Israel.

The calendar throughout the Western world is still based on the year of Christ's birth. It must be terrible for her to live with that. Or does she want the year changed on the diplomas too?

YouTube wins copyright case with Viacom

We read:

"A US judge has thrown out a copyright lawsuit filed against YouTube by US entertainment giant Viacom, handing the Google-owned video-sharing site a major legal victory.

US District Court Judge Louis Stanton ruled that YouTube was protected against Viacom's claims of copyright infringement by provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

"Defendants are granted summary judgment that they qualify for the protection (of the act) against all of plaintiffs' claims for direct and secondary copyright infringement," the judge said in his 30-page ruling.

Google welcomed the ruling while Viacom said it planned to appeal.

"This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the Web to communicate and share experiences with each other," Google general counsel Kent Walker said in a blog post.

Source

Thus will eventually end up before SCOTUS, of course

A military commander is not entitled to his opinion?

There is a huge amount of commentary around about this but it seems to me that the General has told us all stuff that we should know. It is a welcome breach in the wall of "spin".

"The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has been ordered to the White House to explain his criticism of the President and his senior advisers in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine.

In a profile in Rolling Stone, General McChrystal critcised Vice President Joe Biden, who has been sceptical of the general's war strategy, and imagined ways of "dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner."

McChrystal also told the magazine that he felt "betrayed" by the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, in a White House debate over war strategy last year.

And an unnamed adviser to General McChrystal told the magazine that the general came away unimpressed from a meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office a year ago.

"It was a 10-minute photo op," the general's adviser said. "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was ... he didn't seem very engaged."

Another aide called the national security adviser, Jim Jones, a "clown" who was "stuck in 1985".

General McChrystal has apologised for his remarks to the magazine.

Source

Note that the general himself did not criticize Obama or his policies. It was other players whom he criticized. More detail here. The general has now offered to resign, which Obama would be foolish to accept. It would just free the general to tell more.

And if the war is being as badly hampered as the general seems to think, getting out now might be the best thing for his future reputation. Let somebody else take the blame for failure. And if the war does fail, it would be a great blow to Obama's standing. Only far-Leftist Americans would be happy about their country failing in something that has cost so much blood and treasure.

Update

Obama has replaced McChrystal with Petraeus, an impeccable move. Petraeus is clearly a much better thinker and could well rescue the campaign from its present floundering state. A wonder what Hillary thinks about General "Betray-us" now?

British hospital tells support group not to call stillborn babies 'angels' as 'religious word may offend'

No word that any atheists have objected so does the hospital think that it knows better than atheists what atheists want?

"When Michelle Taylor set up a hospital support group, she decided 'angels' was the perfect way to describe stillborn and miscarried babies.

But health chiefs thought otherwise and have told the group to drop the word as it may offend grieving parents who are not religious.

Mrs Taylor, 29, said: 'The word angel is not meant to have a religious sense whatsoever. It is just a word we call our children when we lose them. It is a beautiful word and it fits perfectly.'

Danielle Sanderson wrote: 'There is only one word to describe these beautiful babies that visit for a short time. 'They are angels. I understand the hospital's points, but I think there is no other word to use.'

Source

It is common to call a kindly or generous person an angel so it is a Christian concept that has become generally useful -- and is probably very comforting to most of the bereaved parents. But hatred of Christianity takes precedence over helping grieving people, of course

SCOTUS upholds government power to outlaw dissent

Court fails to differentiate words and deeds:

"The US Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that makes it illegal to teach members of a foreign terrorist group how to use peaceful means to pursue political goals.

The statute, outlawing the provision of ‘material support’ to designated terrorist organizations, does not violate free-speech and free-association protections of the First Amendment, and it is not unconstitutionally vague, the majority justices declared.

In a 6-to-3 decision, the high court said the law — part of the USA Patriot Act — is specific enough to provide would-be violators fair notice of when their conduct crosses the line into illegality.

The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, says that Congress intentionally wrote the statute with a broad sweep to outlaw material support to terror groups in any form, including assistance or expertise that might help nudge the group toward NONviolence.”

Source

Surely it is the 1st Amendment rather than the intent of Congress that was the issue here. This is a very disappointing decision. But a court that is capable of finding a right to abortion in the constitution when the word "abortion" is not even mentioned there is obviously a political body first and a judicial body second.

Must not say that most heroin producers are Muslims

Even if they are. Man being prosecuted in Britain for saying so

"A man charged over leaflets which blame Muslims for the heroin trade told a jury “I’m not that nutter.”

Anthony Bamber, 54, of Greenbank Street, Preston, denies seven counts of distributing leaflets intending to stir up religious hatred at Preston Crown Court.

BNP party supporter Bamber wrote the literature entitled The Heroin Trade and was responsible for leading a campaign which sent up to 30,000 of the leaflets to people throughout the north of England over 12 months.

It demanded that Muslims should “apologise and pay compensation” for a trade which he said had its roots predominately in Pakistan and Afghanistan....

At a previous hearing David Perry QC, prosecuting, told the court that the case was about “hate speech” which was intended to provoke hatred of both the concept of Islam and also the followers of Islam, Muslims...

Source

Free speech protections are weak at lower courts in Britain. He might have to go to the Supreme Court if he wants such protection -- which would be very expensive.

Must not criticize incompetent sport bosses



We read:

"So a team struggles through an epic losing streak and its manager and general manager are somehow rewarded with contract extensions in the middle of it. Meanwhile, a low-level team employee who makes about $100 a month racing around in a pierogi [mock food-item -- see pic above] costume says what we're all thinking on his Facebook page — and promptly loses his job.

"(His message was) aimed at team president Frank Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington and manager John Russell. It read: 'Coonelly extended the contracts of Russell and Huntington through the 2011 season. That means a 19-straight losing streak. Way to go Pirates.'"

Source

The guy might pick a better team to support now.

Iceland 'home of free speech'

We read:

"Iceland's parliament has approved proposals to create some of the world's strongest protections for free speech and investigative journalism.

Fifty lawmakers voted today in favour of drafting strong media protection legislation, while one abstained and 12 were absent. The package of proposals requires the government to change Icelandic law to strengthen journalistic source protection and improve government transparency.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, one of the lawmakers behind the measures, says the new legislation could make Iceland a global home for freedom of speech and boost the country's international standing.

Source

Could be handy

Anti-English posters in Scottish stores

We read:

"High street retailer HMV has withdrawn "Anyone But England" World Cup posters and T-shirts from its Scottish stores following complaints they were racist.

HMV took the decision after Fife police visited a store in the Kirkcaldy constituency of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP) contacted police about the "insensitive and provocative" items which, their website claimed were "criminally irresponsible".

"During the last World Cup, a number of racist attacks were committed in Scotland against English people and anti-English racism remains a problem whether it's a World Cup year or not."

Source

The posters were of course racist and the Scots have loathed the English for nearly 1,000 years -- mainly because the English kept invading and killing them -- but the two sides have got on well enough for centuries now -- without any need for political correctness.

6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns lower court's ruling prohibiting Christians from distributing leaflets at Dearborn Arab-American festival

I am recycling the post below from Jihad Watch -- JR

Good news, in an update on this story. Meanwhile, of course, we wait to find out the grounds on which another group of Christians was arrested there, as BWI -- Breathing While Infidel -- is not yet against Michigan law.

If it's an Islamic festival, call it an Islamic festival. Otherwise, stop hiding behind the generality of "Arab-American" while persecuting Arab-Americans who also happen to be Christian, but refuse to be dhimmis in a free country.

"Local news: Pastor gets OK for handouts," from the Detroit Free Press, June 19:

A Christian pastor can distribute literature on the streets at this weekend's Arab-American festival along Warren Avenue in Dearborn, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. George Saieg of California wants to hand out pamphlets aimed at converting Muslims.

The Thursday ruling overturned a District Court decision that supported Dearborn's policy, which said Saieg and anyone else must hand out literature only around their booths because of crowd control concerns.

Source

Pushback against stupid gun-hating Leftists

We read:

"A Rhode Island boy whose school banned a hat he made because the toy soldiers on it carried tiny guns was awarded a medal on Friday for his patriotic efforts.

Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio, the retired head of the Rhode Island National Guard, gave 8-year-old David Morales a medal called a challenge coin during an appearance on WPRO-AM's John DePetro show. Centracchio said the second-grader should be thanked for recognizing veterans and soldiers...

The school has said David was offered the chance to wear the hat if he replaced the toy soldiers holding weapons with ones that didn't have any. Centracchio said that didn't make sense because soldiers are armed, and met with school administrators Thursday to share his concerns.

Also Friday, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said it sent a letter to Coventry Superintendent Kenneth DiPietro saying the school's policy was an unconstitutional violation of students' free speech. It called on the district to revise the policy.

Source

Good to see the ACLU doing something useful

SCOTUS: Texting not private

We read:

"The Supreme Court said Thursday a California police officer’s privacy was not breached when his superiors read transcripts of hundreds of his text messages to determine whether the Ontario Police Department was providing an adequate number of monthly pager texts.

The SWAT officer, Jeff Quon, was exceeding the limit for months, and his superiors wanted to know why. Quon was originally paying the extra fees out of his own pocket.

He sued after the inquiry, alleging his privacy was violated. Many of the text messages were sexually explicit. … The decision reversed the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled that the search was ‘legitimate’ but ‘not reasonable in scope.’”

Source

This will certainly inhibit what some people say via texts

R.I.: Incorrect hat

Any representation of a gun is intolerable to the fruitcakes of the Left

"Christan Morales says her son just wanted to honor American troops when he made a hat decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures. But the hat ran afoul of the district's no-weapons policy because the toy soldiers were carrying tiny weapons. "His teacher called and said it wasn't appropriate because it had guns," Morales said.

Morales' 8-year-old son, David, was assigned to make a hat for the day when his second-grade class would met their pen pals from another school. She and her son came up with an idea to add patriotic decorations to a camouflage hat.

Earlier this week, the Tiogue School in Coventry sent the hat home with David after class. He wore a plain baseball cap on the day of the visit instead.

Superintendent Kenneth R. Di Pietro said the principal told the family that the hat would be fine if David replaced the Army men holding weapons with ones that didn't have any.

"The issue for us was, can it be done in a way that didn't violate the zero-tolerance for weapons?" he said. "Nothing was being done to limit patriotism, creativity, other than find an alternative to a weapon."

Source

The dumb bum seems to think that toy guns are the same as real guns

Another wicked Australian footballer

Again apparently intended as a joke but jokes have got risky these days. "Abo" is an abbreviation of "Aborigine" -- Australia's native blacks. Most are welfare dependant and have very low levels of educational achievement. Some are good sportsmen, however.

"Hawthorn AFL legend Robert DiPierdomenico has been stood down from his role as an Auskick ambassador after making racially insensitive comments.

DiPierdomenico is said to have referred to fellow Brownlow Medallist Gavin Wanganeen as not “not bad for an Abo''.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou this morning suspended DiPierdomenico and will make a decision on his longer term future with the Auskick junior development program later today.

The Adelaide Advertiser learnt of the gaffe which happened last week to a crowded Hahndorf Football Club function. The function included children.

One offended witness claims to have approached DiPierdomenico after the speech only to be told: "You'll get over it."

Source

NRA cuts questionable deal with Democrats

The NRA does seem to have become pissweak in recent times

"Three prominent Washington D.C. websites are reporting what many capitol insiders warned of: the National Rifle Association has made a deal with the devil (i.e. anti-gun Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) to limit the free speech of Americans in exchange for their carved-out exemption.

Though at first objecting to the DISCLOSE Act, which would radically limit the free speech of organizations and thus, gun owners, the NRA has now agreed to an exemption for their organization (and other mammoth, mostly liberal, organizations like AARP and probably Moveon.org) in exchange for support of the Democrats’ bill.

This legislation would place draconian limitations on the ability of organizations to voice their opinions on politicians, and by extension, their legislation. The chilling effect on free speech would be difficult to overstate.

Source

More background: "The legislation in question is designed to restore more campaign finance rules in the wake of last year’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which removed prohibitions on corporations and unions running TV ads opposing or backing candidates in the run-up to an election".

Must not joke about blacks

"Incorrect" footballers again

"Australian sport was plunged into a fresh racism row yesterday after one of AFL's elder statesmen described indigenous players as cannibals and too difficult to tell apart in the dark.

Former AFL hardman and Richmond player Mal Brown made the offensive remarks at a lunch in Melbourne to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the E.J. Whitten Legends Game.

"We have a distinct disadvantage the West Australians because the Victorians picked both sides," said Brown, who played and coached for most of his career in Western Australia.

"They cheated, they picked the best players. And because there were no lights, I couldn't pick any of the cannibals.

"All the good black fellows, we couldn't pick them because they couldn't see them in the light."

Source

PayPal reverses jihad against Muslim-watch sites

Are they responsive to reasoned criticism after all? It would be interesting to know what went on behind the scenes.

"The Internet money-exchange PayPal has reportedly reversed an earlier decision to cut services to a trio of websites that track and resist the spreading influence of Islam in America.

Popular activist, author and blogger Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs, who has also been involved in founding the Freedom Defense Initiative and Stop Islamization of America, received intimidating letters from PayPal that claimed the websites "promote hate" and "racial intolerance."...

Now, however, Geller reports an executive with the company called and explained the decision was in error and that financial services to the websites could resume.

Nonetheless, Geller says, that's "not good enough." "What recourse do smaller websites have?" Geller writes. "My soapbox is pretty big, but what about small blogs? … If a site is designated a 'hate site,' who decides?" ...

Before the decision was reversed, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a press release applauding PayPal's action, labeling Atlas Shrugs an "anti-Islam hate site."

Source

Must not say that Obama is racially prejudiced?

Even if there is evidence of it -- as in the Crowley/Gates affair?

Iowa Congressman Steve King said the following:

"When you look at this administration, I’m offended by Eric Holder and the president also, their posture. It looks like Eric Holder said that white people in America are cowards when it comes to race,” said King. “And I don’t know what the basis of that is but I’m not a coward when it comes to that and I’m happy to talk about these things and I think we should.”

King added: “But the president has demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race – on the side that favors the black person.”

That remark got him "uninvited" from a tea-party event. I don't blame the tea partiers. They had to do that given an awareness of how the Left would have abused them over it. And the Democrats are in fact abusing them over it anyway.

Catholics push Hyundai to kill soccer commercial

In a world where cartoons of Mohammed are banned, the objections below are no more than a call for equal treatment

"A 30-second television commercial that ran in the United States during the England-USA soccer match on Saturday has Catholic bloggers charging that the advertisement is blasphemous and mocks the core teachings of the church.

The ad begins with singing in Latin, and depicts an Argentine ‘church’ — complete with a stained-glass window of a soccer ball — in which the wildly popular sport is clearly what’s being worshipped.

Critics complain that Hyundai mocks the Eucharist, which Catholics believe to be the body of Christ, by showing ‘worshippers’ on their knees receiving slices of pizza rather than the communion host. … At one point the commercial shows a soccer ball covered with a crown of thorns. … Hyundai, a World Cup sponsor, apparently wanted to show how far some fans will go to support their cause.”

Source

One does wonder if Hyundai wants to sell cars to Catholics. It's an awful lot of people to antagonize. I think the Korean owners of the car-maker have been betrayed by Western ad-men. I hope Hyundai yank the account of the ad agency concerned.

Google bias again

YouTube is a Google property

"In the week following the Israeli boarding of boats piloted by Turkish “peace activists” off the coast of Gaza, Caroline Glick and the good folks at the Hebrew language Israeli news site Latma created a parody video skewering the violent actions perpetrated by those “peace activists” against members of the Israeli authorities attempting to enforce the Gaza blockade. The video went up on YouTube and garnered three million views within a matter of days.

Created as a parody of the 1980s activist song “We are the World,” the Latma song was named “We Con the World” and humorously depicted an array of Palestinian supporters singing about how they’d fooled the world into thinking that it was the Israelis that were the bad guys in the Gaza blockade incident.

The video was very clever and hit just the right notes of humor being not too mean-spirited yet easily hitting home with its message. The humor of the video was wholly in keeping with western humor and not over-the-top or unduly offensive at all. Naturally, YouTube pulled it anyway.

Source

Paypal suspends SIOA, FDI, Atlas Shrugs accounts as "hate speech"

SIOA is Stop Islamization of America and FDI is Freedom Defense Initiative>

"The Left's ongoing strategy is to rule its opposition outside the bounds of acceptable and reasonable political discourse. This is the long-term goal behind all the accusations of "hatred," "bigotry," etc. And so now this from Paypal.

Paypal, in its enlightened Leftism, now apparently deems resistance to an ideology that would extinguish the freedom of speech and the freedom of conscience, as well as equality of rights before the law for women and non-Muslims, to be "hate."

Note also that the openly genocidal jihadists of RevolutionMuslim.com still have their Paypal account. No problem there.

Source

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs has details here. She suggests sending checks instead! I certainly will make no further use of PayPal. There have been a lot of controversies surrounding PayPal. They are a very arrogant firm and clearly are not going to change any time soon unless forced to. They took on the Australian government at one stage and lost.

Can a color be incorrect??

Apparently it can

"In anticipation of a ban against using words such as ‘light’ or ‘mild’ on cigarette labels and ads, tobacco companies have lightened package colors to convey the same message, a move the American Lung Association and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., have attacked as disingenuous.

The ban, part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act signed a year ago by President Obama, takes effect June 22. … The FDA ’should conduct a thorough science-based review and then ban any deceptive use of colors,’ Waxman said.”

Source

The sort of nuttiness I expect of waxy Waxhead. How can a color be "deceptive"?

Must not mention the skin color of footballers

Australia:

"Andrew Johns last night quit the NSW Origin team after he admitted a racist sledge towards Queensland superstar Greg Inglis was behind Blues winger Timana Tahu walking out of the side.

After one of Origin's most dramatic days - with NSW team management at first trying to cover up the scandal - Johns said he had no choice but to resign as assistant coach after it emerged he had sledged Tahu's long-time friend at a bonding session at a Kingscliff hotel on Wednesday night.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Johns told Blues centre Beau Scott: "You must shut that black c... down."

Source

Italians not black enough for South Africa

We read:

"Holders Italy were astonished that France's Patrick Vieira and not an Italian player was asked to symbolically hand over the World Cup trophy at a pre-tournament concert, an official said.

The president of the Italian football federation, Giancarlo Abete, said world governing body FIFA had made a "gaffe" by inviting the Senegalese-born Vieira to do the honours instead of a member of the Italian team which lifted the cup in 2006.

"Vieira didn't win that cup, Italy did," Abete said from Italy's training camp in South Africa.

At a concert held in Soweto on Thursday, Vieira - a member of the French squad which won the 1998 World Cup - handed over the famous trophy to tournament organising chief Danny Jordaan and FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke.

Source

Kroger goes into censorship mode in response to a single complaint

It may not be illegal, but it is censorship

"The Rutherford Reader is a family-owned ,family-operated weekly publication that has been in business since August 3, 2000. The Reader, as it is known, is based out of Murfreesboro, TN a city of just over 100,000 people, which is part of the Nashville, TN. metropolitan area. It is a free weekly newspaper published by Pete Doughtie...

The paper is circulated by Distributech throughout the Rutherford County, TN area to various businesses. One of the locations where Distributech has newspaper racks is Kroger, the national grocery chain.

On Monday, May 10 Pete Doughtie received a phone call from Distributech representative, Rodney Barton, informing him that as of Friday, May 14, that they were no longer going to allow The Reader to use their racks.

When Doughtie asked for what reason, Barton’s reply was “because of the hate speech stories you print about Muslims and Islam.” At that point, Barton was asked to show Doughtie one issue containing hate speech and Barton ignored the request....

The bottom line is this, political correctness is rearing its ugly head once again, and fundamental rights of free speech are the casualties. Have we now reached the point that nothing negative can be printed against Islam either, even when it’s the truth? I thought only pictures of Mohammed were “offensive”.

When corporations both large and small start letting one individual dictate what all of us can read, we might as well be living under Communist rule and forget being able to get the truth because that just went out the window when political correctness came in. Kroger, KFC and anyone else who stops carrying newspapers based on whether someone’s feeling might be hurt is setting a dangerous precedent of censorship that will affect us all.

Hell, the Kroger near me had several newspapers this week calling Israel the aggressor over the Aid to Gaza Flotilla, I think I’ll demand that stop carrying all those papers since it was hate speech against Israel.

Source

If anybody reading this has a Kroger nearby, they might like to check out what newspapers are available there and complain about any Leftist or Muslim hate speech in them. I would be most interested in the details of any response.

Outspoken German banker in hot water

We read:

"Immigrants are making Germany 'dumber', according to a board member of the country's central bank. Thilo Sarrazin claimed the 'limited education' of immigrants - coupled with their high birth rate - meant Germans 'are becoming dumber in a simple way'. He said: 'There's a difference in the reproduction of population groups with varying intelligence.'

It is not the first time the 65-year-old member of the Bundesbank has caused controversy since he joined last year.

In October he described Muslim children as 'underclass' citizens. 'I don't have to accept someone who lives off a state they reject, doesn't properly take care of the education of his children-and keeps producing more little girls in headscarves,' Mr Sarrazin said.

'That goes for 70 percent of the Turkish and 90 percent of the Arabic population of Berlin.' He added that they were not fit for much other than 'fruit and vegetable selling'.

In his latest speech this week he said there were 'ample statistics' proving he was correct about German intelligence.

Mr Sarrazin, who was previously Germany's finance minister, has not yet apologised. It is thought his position at the Bundesbank may now be untenable.

But among conservatives in Germany his comments have struck a chord. They have voiced concern that the country's three million Turks tend to live in their own communities, socialise among each other and have little in common with their German neighbours.

Source

Herr Sarrazin is perfectly correct. All the statistics show that Arabs and Iranians have average IQs of around 85 with Turkey only slightly better on 90. Western Europeans hover around 100. Check Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey in this table of academic research findings

Flood of Leftist hate speech directed at Rabbi who exposed the antisemitism of Helen Thomas

We read:

"The New York rabbi who videotaped veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas telling Jews to "get the hell out of Palestine" says he has received numerous death threats and thousands of pieces of hate mail in the days since Thomas' abrupt retirement.

Rabbi David Nesenoff said he is facing an "overload" of threatening e-mails calling for a renewed Holocaust and targeting his family — a barrage of hate he said he planned to report to the police on Wednesday.

"This ticker tape keeps coming in," Nesenoff told FoxNews.com. "We got one specific one saying, 'We're going to kill the Jews; watch your back.'"

Nesenoff said he was shocked not only by Thomas' original remarks — which he called anti-Semitic — but by the wave of insults and threats he has received since his videotape brought about her public shaming and the end of her 50-year career at the White House.

"This is something that I thought was a couple of people here or there, [but] it's mainstream and it's frightening," the Long Island rabbi said. "[Thomas] is just a little cherry on top of this huge, huge sundae of hate in America."

Source

Anti-British bigotry from Obama

Since BP is mainly an American company these days, it is also another example of the vacuum between his ears.

"The British business community has expressed alarm at "anti-British" sentiment it says US President Barack Obama is whipping up for political reasons as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill worsens. A leading British business figure has written to U.S. President Barack Obama to warn him that his criticism of BP over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill appears "prejudicial and personal," Sky News revealed yesterday.

Hinting that the U.S. government was guilty of double standards, Napier went on to say: "There is a sense here that these attacks are being made because BP is British. "If you compare the damage inflicted on the economies of the western world by polluted securities from the irresponsible, unchecked greed and avarice of leading USA international banks, there has not been the same personalised response in or from countries beyond the US."

Source

See also here, where an eminent Briton fires back: "Writing on his website, the Tory peer Lord Tebbit attacked President Obama, saying: “The whole might of American wealth and technology is displayed as utterly unable to deal with the disastrous spill — so what more natural than a crude, bigoted, xenophobic display of partisan, political, presidential petulance against a multinational company?”

Publishing Company Under Fire for Putting Warning Label on the U.S. Constitution‏

I thought I had mentioned this insulting far-Left rubbish before but I can't see where I did that so better late than never:

"A small publishing company is under fire after putting warning labels on copies of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and other historical documents.

Wilder Publications warns readers of its reprints of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, the Articles of Confederation, and the Federalist Papers, among others, that “This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today.”

The disclaimer goes on to tell parents that they "might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work."

The warning seems to be offending more people than the documents themselves. Amazon.com’s customer reviews of Wilder’s copy of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation show an overwhelming number of people speaking out against the disclaimer, describing it as “insulting,” “sickening” and “frankly, horrifying.”

Almost all of the reviews discussing the disclaimer end with the same thought: don't buy from this publisher.

Source

Wilder publications is a small print-on-demand company run by an eccentric science fiction writer, Warren Lapine. The offensive text seems most likely to be the work of Mr Lapine himself.

The firm also has a list of Christian books but, as far as I can tell, they are well outside the Christian mainstream -- Swedenborg and the like.

All of Mr Lapine's previous publishing ventures appear to have gone broke so I think Wilder publications is headed the same way

TX: Lewisville schools proposal on Web conduct raises free speech concerns

We read:

"Angela Armstrong is proud to be a teacher and never thought twice about making references to her profession on her Facebook page.

But those online remarks could get her into trouble under a recent proposal presented to the Lewisville school district. It would prohibit employees from criticizing the district or even affiliating themselves with the school on social networking sites.

"What a disappointment to read that I can no longer affiliate myself with a district I'm proud to work for," Armstrong told the Lewisville school board at its May 17 meeting.

The second-grade teacher at Camey Elementary School said the proposed rules restrict her right to free speech and could invite a lawsuit. "Are you really willing to take on the First Amendment of the United States Constitution?" she asked....

School board trustee Brenda Latham agreed. "This is crossing a line," Latham said of the proposed rules for employees. "We can't mandate what they say or don't say on their own time with their own technology."

District spokeswoman Karen Permetti said the guidelines are being rewritten and will be presented at Monday's meeting. "The purpose was not to hinder First Amendment rights but to communicate appropriate behavior for social networking," she said. [According to whom? The school board obviously would not have a clue by the sound of their first attempt at it. They're just drunk with their petty power]

Source

Christians must be seen and not heard at CUNY campus -- but Muslims can do as they like

We read:

"When Nicholas Francis filled out all the necessary paperwork—in advance—for the Christian Club’s annual Christmas event he thought it would be much like all the preceding events. Except days before, Student Activities stopped the paperwork and requested that they submit an itemized agenda for the event that would be modified according to an alleged new CUNY policy regarding religious events held on campus.

“They really didn’t specify where it was written or point out ‘it says it right here.’ They just said you can’t do this,” said Francis, president of the Christian club. They were prohibited to open and read from the Bible and were not allowed to have a speaker. The event was limited to singing, dancing, and reciting poetry.

This was the first instance where the concept of separation of church and state was enacted, an ordinance alien to York College.

Andrews shed light on the situation by claiming that the separation of church and state arose after a complaint was made by individuals who felt that the MSA was “espousing religious rhetoric,” or basically preaching. “Everybody is forced to hear it, unfortunately, whether you want to hear it or not,” said Andrews, referring to the Muslim call to prayer that echoes loudly within the Academic Core Building. “You are forced because it’s being broadcasted in the atrium.”

“This was the only event for the last year in the atrium, of all our events,” Francis said. “We’re usually behind closed doors and I believe that is what they prefer.”

But for the MSA there are no closed doors. They hold prayers in cordoned area of the south side of the fourth floor and the azan, or call for prayer, is heard from all over the school. An exclusive washroom, or place for ablution, has been designated for their use.

Source

The hate never dies among British Leftists

We read:

"John McDonnell, a Labour leadership candidate, was applauded loudly yesterday for telling a trade union audience that he wished to go back to the 1980s and assassinate Margaret Thatcher.

The MP later said his remarks were intended as a joke but the standing ovation he received underlined how large sections of the party remain tilted to the Left.

Describing himself as a victim of the former Tory Prime Minister’s policies because he worked for the Greater London Council and National Union of Mineworkers, Mr McDonnell said he would be glad to “go back to the 1980s and assassinate Thatcher”.

He appeared the most popular of the five contenders at the leadership hustings at the GMB union’s conference in Southport.

Source

Hate-filled old hag lets slip what most of her fellow journalists probably think



She has obviously become less cautious with age. She puts the mask back on in her evasive "apology" but it is her spontaneous comments that are most convincing about what she really thinks.

"Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas has retired after coming under fire for controversial remarks about Israel. The decision by 89-year-old Thomas, the longest-serving reporter in the White House press corps, was announced by Hearst Corp, where she worked as a newspaper columnist.

Thomas, who served for decades as the White House correspondent for United Press International (UPI), apologised last week for the remarks she made about Israel during a May 27 "Jewish Heritage Celebration" at the White House.

Asked at the event by the website RabbiLive.com whether she had any "comments on Israel", Thomas replied: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine. "Remember these people are occupied and it's their land, not German and not Poland. "They can go home, Poland, Germany, and America and everywhere else."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs overnight described the remarks as "offensive and reprehensible" and Thomas issued an apology on her website, HelenThomas.org.

"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians," she said. "They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognise the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

Source

Yid with lid has the video plus more background. Someone should offer her a free ticket to Gaza, as long as she stays there.

Comment from a correspondent:

"The thing that really upsets me about Helen is that for more than 30 years the entire media has known full well of her hatred, of her anti-semitism - and they did nothing. It was no secret - they all knew; every one of them heard her, everyone was fully aware of it. And yet not once did the MSM broadcast this - we were forced to do it ourselves.

It wasn't a CNN, CBS, NBC or ABC cameraman that taped this truth about Helen; instead, it was an independent cameraman trotting alongside her on the sidewalk that taped in 30 seconds what the media has refused to tape for 30 years - the truth about Helen's hatred, her anti-semitism.

They all knew, each and every one of them knew about her hatred for decades - and yet they did nothing"

Mustn't say that Arabs are a problem?

Maybe the 9/11 attacks were carried out by the Old Order Amish

"A French court has fined Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux for making racist comments about a young party activist of Algerian origin. The court fined Mr Hortefeux 750 euros (£622) and ordered that he pay 2,000 euros to an anti-racism group.

Mr Hortefeux was joking with a small group of activists from the ruling UMP party in south-west France. Immediately before Mr Hortefeux's controversial remark, one activist is heard saying: "Amin is a Catholic. He eats pork and drinks alcohol."

Mr Hortefeux then says: "Ah, well that won't do at all. He doesn't match the prototype." A woman is then heard to say: "He is one of us... he is our little Arab."

The interior minister then says: "We always need one. It's when there are lots of them that there are problems."

Source

Must not mention private schooling

You no doubt saw some of the press coverage of the young Indian girl who won the national spelling bee. But did you notice something odd? None of the reports mentioned what school she went to! Since learning to spell is very much an educational activity, you would think that her school had some relevance. Links to the BBC, ABCNews and AP coverage here, here, and here.

As far as I can see, it is only by viewing the Bee's website that you could learn learn that Speller No. 201, Anamika Veeramani, attended Incarnate Word Academy in Ohio, a private Catholic school.

Maybe there were some news reports that mentioned that but it sure stands out that so many did not.

The problem may have been the name of the school. "Incarnate Word" is a reference to John 1:1 and is a very religious name for Jesus Christ. We can't have people exposed to Biblical references can we? Has it come down to separation between church and spelling bees?

As an aside, I thought it was a bit unfair to ask her to spell a German word -- even if it is sometimes used in rarefied medical circles. Stromuhr is actually a very easy word to spell if you know German. It is just German for "stream clock". "Uhr" is related to our word "hour"

The recent attempt run the Gaza blockade was revealing

We read:

"The instantaneous worldwide condemnation of Israel by such stalwart defenders of humanitarian rights as Russia, Syria, Turkey and the UN itself, illustrates that hate speech against Israel and Jews has become pro forma and acceptable without question.

There was a brief respite from knee jerk anti-semitism after the Second World War exposed its horrifying consequences but following the declaration of Israel’s statehood, the mantle of Jew-hatred was assumed by the Muslim world and eventually by the radical left internationally. Now, in the 21rst century, after all the wars initiated against Israel by Arab forces, after all the world-wide massacres wrought by radical Islam, we still face the curious phenomenon of Israel being singled out as the world’s leading obstacle to peace in our time.

In the west, one of the formative reasons for the demonization of Israel in polite discourse is the leeway afforded to its enemies to express the most outrageous claims in our universities. We have raised a generation of students who have been manipulated by anti-Israel faculties, by craven attempts to boycott Israel economically and intellectually and by such phenomena as Israel Apartheid Week whose very title is not only a patent lie but an insidious attempt to delegitimize a democratic state.

Ironically, Israel has successfully integrated people from all over the globe and has afforded more rights to Palestinians than all of their Arab pseudo-supporters combined. Israel has continued to extend humanitarian aid to its self-avowed enemies who deny its right to exist and refuse to meet with its leaders face to face. The non–Muslim students who support Israel Apartheid Week would never participate in a week-long hate fest dedicated to the condemnation of radical jihadi violence against Hindus, African animists, Christians, Jews, gays and women, yet they feel sanctimoniously comfortable scapegoating the only democracy in the middle east and the only bona fide ally of the United States in that region.

Universities which have severely limiting speech codes that protect against offending the sensitivities of numerous sacred cows have no problem allowing the often violence-inducing rallies and speeches that constitute Israel Apartheid Week at the most prestigious campuses in America.

Source

All the Leftist and libertarian sites I have seen recently are just bubbling over with hatred of Israel. Very reminiscent of Der Stürmer

CA: Can't say "black holes"

We read:

"A graduation card sold at local stores has been pulled from shelves after a civil rights group raised concerns about the content. The group claims the card's micro-speaker plays a greeting that's racist. It is a graduation greeting from Hallmark that says, "Hey world, we are officially putting you on notice."

Members of the Los Angeles NAACP did take notice. As characters known as "Hoops" and "Yoyo" banter on, African American leaders hear offensive language. "And you black holes, you are so ominous. Watch your back," the card vocalizes.

"That was very demeaning to African American women. When it made reference to African American women as whores and at the end, it says 'watch your back,'" said Leon Jenkins of the Los Angeles NAACP.

When Hallmark was reached by phone, they said the card is all a misunderstanding. The card's theme is the solar system and emphasizes the power of the grad to take over the universe, even energy-absorbing black holes.

Hallmark is now notifying all of its stores to pull the card. Walgreens and CVS are doing the same.

Source

Man fired for saying a large public mural does not represent his town

There has been a storm of abuse from Leftists over this (e.g. here) But what it boils down to is a local politician complaining that a huge mural of a black guy in the center of his town does not represent his town -- which is predominantly white.

He is undoubtedly correct but you are only allowed to take notice of race if you are discriminating in favor of a person of another race, of course -- so-called "affirmative action".

"An Arizona councilman was fired from a talk back radio show after asking a school principal to paint faces white on a local school mural. Steve Blair was fired from the talk radio show he hosted due to the controversy over the mural painted on a local public school

The artists said the mural they painted was supposed to show the diversity of the kids at Miller Valley School, but following comments by Blair, the school principal asked them to paint the kids' faces a lighter color

The mural was painted last month on the wall of the school, at the corner of the busiest intersection in Prescott.

The controversy was sparked by a comment Blair made on his radio show two weeks ago. "To depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person - I would have to ask the question ‘why?’" he said on The Steve Blair Show on KYCA.

Source

More detail on a Leftist site here.

TV presenter shocks some viewers with "sexist" comment

We read:

"American TV presenter Mark Haines shocked viewers with a sexist comment about how women don't understand sport.

His co-presenter Erin Burnett suggested that a bad call by a baseball referee did not matter because the situation was handled gracefully by both sides.

Haines replied: 'See, this is why women aren't in charge of sports'.

As production staff could be heard giggling, Burnett sat open mouthed and said: 'Oh my! You know...I think...this is a moment that should be passed over'.

The footage has found its way onto YouTube where most of the comments support what Haines said. GBTRU wrote: 'She makes it sound so trivial that a perfect game was thrown, because of a stupid call by the ump. 'She and women like her...have a fair play everybody wins mentality when it comes to sports. This was record breaking...she knows nothing.'

Source

Kagan’s troubling First Amendment record

We read:

"Early this month President Obama selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his replacement for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court.

In the last session alone no fewer than 10 cases involving First Amendment claims made it to the Court’s docket.... An examination of several of the law review articles she has written and the First Amendment cases in which she has involved herself as solicitor general reveals a consistent and inexplicable hostility toward free speech.

Here’s the takeaway. Under her view of “free speech,” Hillsdale College, a small liberal arts school in Michigan and crisis pregnancy centers throughout the nation that receive no funds might find themselves subjected to speech restrictions due to a perceived hostility on their part to women and minorities.

Nevertheless, Planned Parenthood and presumably Harvard would be allowed to operate free from any restrictions on pro-abortion or gay rights advocacy while because they receive public funds.

Next, there is her 1995 University of California, Davis law review article on speech codes in which she asserts one way to defend a Stanford University speech code would be to consider it “a ban on the subcategory of fighting words that must pose the dangers associated with fighting words generally.”

Finally there is a 1996 Chicago Law review article on the First Amendment in which Kagan theorizes that the Courts -- instead of focusing on the First Amendment’s goal of ensuring that individual expression and the marketplace of ideas is encouraged -- should focus on the government’s motives in adopting regulations that impact speech. If their goals were neutral then the impact on speech wouldn’t necessarily be protected.

As demonstrated by her record, Kagan clearly believes the scope of the First Amendment should be narrower than it is today. She consistently devalues political speech and freedom of expression in favor of government control.

Source

Australian footballer banned from playing after writing that homosexual sportsmen should not "come out"

We read:

"An Australian sportsman has been suspended by his club over homophobic comments he made in a newspaper column. Australian Rules star Jason Akermanis had used his comment piece in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper to urge gay players to 'stay in the closet'.

Akermanis, 33, has been criticised over the column, in which argued that the deeply traditional, Gaelic football-style sport was not ready for its first openly gay player.

He wrote: 'Imagine the publicity associated with a current player admitting he's gay. It would be international news and could break the fabric of a club.'

Source

He was clearly motivated by a concern for the best interests of his sport rather than by any animus towards homosexuals -- but you are not allowed to offer any such arguments, it seems.

Must not use "rape" metaphorically

Comparing other things to rape is as old as the hills. Alexander Pope wrote his satirical "The rape of the lock" in 1712. But some angry feminist below says that is wrong

"Twilight actress Kristen Stewart has often been outspoken about her hatred of the spotlight shined on her personal life and rumoured romance with co-star Robert Pattinson.

But Stewart needs to know that there's a big difference between being hounded by the media and being raped, according to rape victims' advocates who were offended by remarks from Stewart in the July edition of British Elle magazine.

“It's so... The photos are so… I feel like I'm looking at someone being raped. A lot of the time I can't handle it,” the 20-year-old actress said when asked how she feels about being photographed by paparazzi. “I never expected that this would be my life.”

Katherine Hull, a spokesperson on behalf of Rape and Incest National Network (R.A.I.N.N.), spoke out against Stewart's comments on FOXNews.com.

“Stewart's comments are regrettable," she said. "Portraying a rape survivor in the film Speak should have led her to use a more appropriate metaphor to describe the intrusive nature of the paparazzi. "Rape is more than an intrusion, it's a violent crime, that causes serious long term mental health effects for victims.”

Source

One could be forgiven for concluding that Ms Hull is suffering from "serious long term mental health effects"

A Loss for the bureaucrats. A Victory for the First Amendment

We read:

"SpeechNow.org is an association of citizens that wanted to pool their money to run independent political ads for and against candidates based on their support for the First Amendment. SpeechNow.org does not accept any money from corporations or unions and does not make any contributions to political candidates or parties. Although individuals are allowed under the First Amendment to spend unlimited amounts of money on independent political ads (which is political speech in its most basic form), if two or more individuals tried to pool their money to do exactly the same thing, the FEC classified them as a Political Action Committee. That meant that all of the registration requirements and contribution limits of FECA that govern PACs applied to SpeechNow.org, which acted as a direct and onerous limit on the association’s ability to engage in political speech.

Fortunately, all nine justices of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of SpeechNow.org and against the FEC last March, holding that such government-imposed restrictions on participation in the political process are a violation of the First Amendment. The case was then remanded back to the federal district court. On June 1, the district court issued an injunction against the FEC that implemented the decision of the Court of Appeals. The injunction prevents the FEC from enforcing contribution limits against SpeechNow.org and its prospective donors.

In conjunction with the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, this decision goes a long way towards restoring First Amendment rights that have been systematically denied over the past thirty years by so-called “campaign finance reform” laws, most of which are more correctly termed as incumbent-protection laws.

The latest example of that is the DISCLOSE Act, which is a “reform” bill being pushed through Congress in a big hurry by Senator Chuck Schumer and Rep. Chris Van Hollen in an attempt to reverse the Citizens United decision in time for the November election. It just goes to show that we are in a seemingly never-ending war to stop violations of our freedom and liberties by members of Congress who exhibit no qualms about violating the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

Source

Leftist hate at work

Leftists despise America. All they like about it is their own twisted idea of what it could become through force and coercion

"People in one Ohio town say they were startled Memorial Day morning to find vandals had torched close to 20 U.S. flags installed on lawns by the Rotary Club.

Residents in Wooster say it appears fires were set on the ground at the bases of the 10-foot metal flag poles and that flames traveled up and burned the flags.

Police were alerted just before 3:30 a.m. Monday in the community 50 miles south of Cleveland. Lt. Greg Bolek says the poles were cool to the touch by the time officers arrived.

Source

This is not actual speech but it conveys a clear message nonetheless

Tintin ban is 'like book burning'



We read:

"Legal attempts to ban Tintin in the Congo for racism are a form of "book burning", according to lawyers acting for the estate of Hergé, the Belgian cartoon hero's creator.

Belgium's courts are investigating whether Tintin's 1931 Congolese adventures, when the country was a Belgian colony, portrays black Africans in a racist way.

Alain Berenboom, a lawyer for the estate of Georges Remi, the Tintin cartoonist who worked under the Hergé pen-name, attacked the calls to censor the book which was published for over 70 years before being accused of racism. "I cannot accept racism but I consider it equally lamentable that we burn books. To ban books is to burn them," he said. "It has never caused public order problems, including in Africa."

Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Brussels-based Congolese man, has spent the last three years pursuing Tintin's copyright holders and publisher in the civil and criminals courts....

British editions of Tintin Au Congo have not been banned but are now sold with a band of paper around the cover, warning the content is offensive.

Allegations of racism surrounding the Tintin book are deeply sensitive in Belgium, a small country where the intrepid boy reporter and his dog Snowy are a rare national symbol, and where postcolonial guilt over its record in the Congo is acute.

Source

NY: Judge orders reinstatement of boy suspended over rosary

We read:

"A federal judge says a New York school must reinstate a 13-year-old boy who was suspended for wearing rosary beads. Raymond Hosier, a 13-year-old Schenectady, New York, boy, filed a federal suit Tuesday against his middle school after he was repeatedly suspended for wearing a rosary, which he says is in memory of his older brother who died in a bike accident. …

Oneida Middle School officials contend Raymond Hosier violated a policy banning gang-related clothing because the prayer beads sometimes are worn as gang symbols.”

Source

I'd believe the gang symbol explanation myself. Rosary beads are not normally worn as necklaces.

Conn. Town Can't Hold Graduations in Church, Judge Rules

We read:

"A federal judge has ruled two Connecticut public high schools can't hold their graduations inside a church because that would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall made the ruling Monday in the case of Enfield High School and Enrico Fermi High School, both in Enfield. [Does the stupid b*tch think the air inside a church is a secret gas that brainwashes people into becoming Christians?]

The Enfield school board says it voted to hold services June 23 and 24 at The First Cathedral in Bloomfield because it had enough space at the right price. But two students and three of their parents sued.

Source

Must not preach the Gospel in Afghanistan

We read:

"Afghan authorities suspended two Christian foreign aid groups Monday on suspicion of proselytizing in the strictly Islamic nation and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims.

U.S.-based Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid will not be allowed to operate while the allegations, aired Sunday on Afghan television, are investigated, said Mohammad Hashim Mayar, the deputy director of the Afghan government office that oversees nongovernment organizations, known as NGOs....

Proselytizing is illegal in Afghanistan, as it is in many Muslim countries. It is a hot-button issue for many Afghans sensitive to the influence of the scores of foreign aid groups operating in the country to help it recover from decades of war.

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"Nazi" game stirs up California school

We read:

"La Quinta High School is working with the Anti-Defamation League to provide more tolerance education in response to a controversial game dozens of students played, officials said Friday.

The off-campus game, dubbed “Beat the Jew,” was a chase game that involved a group of students in cars, called “Nazis,” trying to catch up with a student — a “Jew” — trying to run to a specified location.

Participation in the game was voluntary. It did not constitute a crime and did not happen on school property, so officials said the 40 or so students involved can't be punished by the school — though officials did talk with them and ask that the Facebook group promoting the game be taken down.

“I would love to be able to do something,” Salazar said about creating more consequences for the students involved.

Many of the students have been to museums of tolerance in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and teachers work hard to make historical events such as the Holocaust hit home with students, she said.

Some have argued that while the game included insensitive terminology, it meant no harm and was not intended to be a threat.

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The game was undoubtedly insensitive but it would be very tedious if everybody was sensitive all the time. I suspect that the kids just saw it as a variation on "cowboys and Indians" -- though I suppose "cowboys and Indians" is pretty "incorrect" these days too.

Social networking site squashed by British university

We read:

"The founder of a student flirting website has been fined £300 for bringing his university into disrepute. The FitFinder, set up last month, combines Twitter and Facebook to allow students to exchange saucy messages on campus. The site received four million hits in its first month and has rapidly expanded to universities across the country.

Rich Martell, 21, a final-year computer sciences student at University College London, has taken the site down under pressure from university authorities, who were concerned that it was distracting students from their studies. Staff claim to have been contacted by a number of other universities unhappy about FitFinder.

FitFinder has gained national attention since its launch in April for its risque content and its wildfire-like spread. The site allows students to “spot” attractive people in libraries, cafes and lecture theatres, and post a message about them on the publicly visible site in the hope of getting a response.The site has been criticised by women’s groups, who cite sexually explicit comments as evidence of its offensive tone, while supporters argue that it is nothing more than friendly banter and a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun.

Mr Martell has vowed to resume the service as soon as the safety of his university degree is guaranteed and said that it was an unfair reaction to a social networking site that he sees as no different to Facebook or Twitter. “If a UCL student posted something offensive on Facebook would they hold Mark Zuckerberg [the site’s founder] responsible?” he asked.

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