College Students Want 'Our Lord' Phrase Off Diplomas

We read:

"A group of students at Trinity University in Texas wants the Christian-rooted school to remove the words "Our Lord" from their diplomas, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes,” Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection, told the Chronicle. “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,' it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ."

Qureshi, a Muslim student at the school, is leading the campaign to remove the words. The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the matter during a meeting next month.

The school was founded by Presbyterians in 1869 and has been governed by an independent board of trustees since 1969.

Source

But I guess that "Allah" would not be objected to. That would be "racist"

List of "banned" websites to be kept secret by Australia's own Geheime Staatspolizei

We read:

"Communications Minister Stephen Goering Conroy has agreed that greater oversight of which websites will be banned under the Government's mandatory internet filter is needed but has ruled out making the list public.

The Federal Government plans to introduce a filter aimed at blocking access to illegal material such as child pornography or content refused classification (RC) by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. But the blacklist put together by the communications watchdog has not been made public, raising concerns that governments can impose censorship without proper oversight.

SOURCE

Media Badly Misrepresent Ann Coulter's 'Take A Camel' Remark

We read:

"Conservative author Ann Coulter found herself embroiled in controversy last week after she spoke at a Canadian university.

According to numerous American media outlets, when asked by a seventeen-year-old Muslim student at the University of Western Ontario last Monday, "[S]ince I don't have a magic carpet, what other modes [of transportation] do you suggest," Coulter responded, "Take a camel."

What the Coulter-hating media ignored is that she spent almost two full minutes giving a rather thoughtful, fact-based answer to the first, more serious part of Fatima Al-Dhaher's question, and was badgered by others in the crowd who clearly didn't like her response.

At that point, Coulter heckled the hecklers



Source

If you haven't got time to watch the video, there is a transcript and further discussion at the source given.

US must stop spying on WikiLeaks

Wikileaks is a great site for busting government secrecy but they are not wholly reliable. I wish them a long life, however.

"Developing world violence aside, we’ve become used to the level of security service interest in us and have established procedures to ignore that interest. But the increase in surveillance activities this last month, in a time when we are barely publishing due to fundraising, are excessive.

Some of the new interest is related to a film exposing a U.S. massacre we will release at the U.S. National Press Club on April 5. The spying includes attempted covert following, photographing, filming and the overt detention & questioning of a WikiLeaks’ volunteer in Iceland on Monday night.”

Source

Coulter update



Leftist thugs shut down a talk by Ann Coulter at the University of Ottawa but she was not completely silenced in Canada

"Right-wing U.S. pundit Ann Coulter's comments to a Muslim student in London earlier this week were "distasteful" but don't qualify as hate speech, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association general counsel said Thursday.

"It is distasteful speech," Nathalie Des Rosiers said before speaking to The Windsor Star's editorial board. "It's appropriate to challenge her to say how inappropriate and silly an example it is, but it doesn't amount to hate speech."

Des Rosiers said hate speech in Canada is defined as a direct invitation to inflict violence and Coulter's comments didn't reach that level.

Coulter gained media attention this week for a speech at the University of Western Ontario where she declared that Muslims should be banned from flying on airplanes.

When a Muslim woman asked Coulter how she would be able to get around, Coulter repled that she could "take a camel."

Des Rosiers defended Coulter's right to free speech even if she doesn't support her views.

Coulter's comments caused a protest and the cancellation of her speech at the University of Ottawa Tuesday and increased security at a scheduled Thursday night speech at the University of Calgary.

Universities should pay for extra security so controversial speakers like Coulter can be heard, Des Rosiers said.

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At Ann Coulter event, 'lots of hate speech -- from students'

Two letters:

"On Tuesday night I was one of several hundred people who waited patiently in the Ottawa rain to hear what Ann Coulter had to say, but alas it was not to be. It was an interesting experience being called a racist bigot and other slurs by a cadre of unruly and rude students, whose education is subsidized by my tax dollars.

Then in yesterday's National Post, letter-writer Denise Cooke Browne asks the great unwashed not to "show up at [Ms. Coulter's] talks."

Contempt prior to investigation: Doesn't that constitute bias?
Ms. Cooke Browne also boasts of having been a former journalist and human rights investigator. It was fortunate I did not have to appear before her; I wouldn't have stood a chance.

Geraldine Hyland, Orleans, Ont.

While watching television coverage of Ann Coulter's aborted speech at the University of Ottawa on Tuesday, I saw no free speech but plenty of hate speech and threats of violence --from the students.

Sharon Quickfall, Edmonton.

Source

No right to pray in a public park?

It should be realized that saving souls is an integral part of evangelical Christian beliefs and that some homosexuals have repented and changed their behavior with Christian help. So the preacher below was clearly exercising his religion, which the 1st Amendment says he is free to do

"A street preacher who intruded on an Elmira, New York gay pride event along with three others in 2007 has been arrested on disorderly conduct charges. Julian Raven had been fined $100 for refusing to obey police, who ordered him and several others out of a park where the pride event was taking place at the time.

He could have faced 15 days in jail for not paying the fine; reports say that he was sentenced to only nine days. Anti-gay religious conservatives agree with the preacher, who says that his constitutional rights to freedom of speech have been violated.

The case is on appeal and may be headed to the New York supreme court

Raven, and anti-gay Christians supportive of him, says that he has the right to pray in public even during an event that draws people who might take offense at the message.

Source

St. Paul himself preached that homosexuals are worthy of death (Romans 1:32). No doubt he too would be jailed in America today.

Must not correct official lies

We read:

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Pentagon reporters Thursday it's "inappropriate" for active duty officers to comment on potential changes to the law that bans gays from openly serving in the military.

Those comments were a direct response to a March 8th letter written to the "Stars and Stripes " by Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, commanding general of the US Army Pacific, which clearly stated his opinion that most servicemembers are opposed to repealing the policy.

In the letter Mixon wrote: "It is often stated that most servicemembers are in favor of repealing the policy. I do not believe that is accurate."

He went on to say, "Now is the time to write your elected officials and chain of command and express your views. If those of us who are in favor of retaining the current policy do not speak up, there is no chance to retain the current policy."

Source

Florida still trying to regulate political speech

We read:

"After a sharp Senate debate Wednesday, a bill is headed to Gov. Charlie Crist’s desk that would revive and modify a Florida ‘electioneering’ law that was ruled unconstitutional last year by a federal judge who said it violated freedom of speech. The debate, though, wasn’t about that part of the bill. …

U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle last year ruled Florida’s ‘electioneering communications’ law violated constitutional guarantees of free speech by requiring nonpolitical organizations to register with the state and comply with financial reporting requirements if they so much as mentioned a candidate or issue.

The bill still would require some groups and individuals engaged in ‘election-related activities’ to register with the state if they raise more than $5,000, but not those focused only on issues.”

Source

Black rapper offends Buddhists

We read:

"Singer Akon has postponed his April concert in Sri Lanka after the island nation's government said they planned to deny his visa on Tuesday.

Their announcement followed a violent incident on Monday, when more than 200 protestors in the city of Colombo threw rocks at the offices of Capital Maharaja, Akon's concert promoters. Chevan Daniel, Maharaja broadcasting's head of news, told The Associated Press that the mob - some carrying signs that read "Stop Akon Now" -- broke windows and hit cars parked near the building. Four employees were reportedly injured.

The protestors were incited by Akon's video, "Sexy Chick," the #3 hit song he recorded for Dave Guetta's One Love album. The video features bikini-clad women dancing suggestively in front of a Buddha statue during a pool scene. The clip "triggered a lot of disappointment among Buddhists all over the world," a government spokesperson said in a statement.

Source

Getting offended seems to be all the rage now (apologies for the pun)

Tombola Bingo advert gets banned in Britain

We read:

"It seems to be more of an issue of political correctness than the suggested presenting of a negative racial stereotype as the latest Tombola Bingo advert gets banned by ASA. This bingo sites latest advert prompted just two complaints but this is all it took for ASA to consider whether the complaints about the Tombola Bingo advert were justified or not.

Obviously it would not be appropriate to get into a debate as to whether the decision to ban the Tombola Bingo advert was the right thing to do. However, this bingo sites advert, which featured a coloured man playing a ukulele, repeating everything that the white man next to him was saying, was deemed to imply that black people are less intelligent than white people.

This is not the first time that Tombola Bingo has had to pull a TV advert off air. One of this bingo sites previous adverts was also banned after it was deemed to appeal to the younger generation.

Source

"appeal to the younger generation"! How shocking!

Feminists say hospital's breast cancer campaign is sexist

We read:

"Polish feminists have objected to a hospital's breast cancer prevention slogan which they say encourages workplace harassment.

The Gazeta Wyborcza says the slogan "I check the breasts of my workers on my own" was devised by a cancer hospital in the southern town of Opole and aimed at convincing employers to encourage their female workers to have their breasts checked regularly for cancer symptoms.

"This is a sexist slogan that obviously brings sexual molestation to mind," the head of the Feminoteka foundation, Joanna Piotrowska, was quoted on the website as saying.

Source

Sex is bad, say feminists -- which shows how weird they are

Where Is the Outrage When Black Conservative Tea Party Activists Are Called the N-Word?

We read:

"Black conservatives opposed to government-run health care routinely are called the "n-word" and worse, says Deneen Borelli, full-time Fellow with the Project 21 black leadership network -- by liberals.

To black lawmakers allegedly receiving the same treatment, Borelli said: "Welcome to my world! I've been called worse than the N-word by alleged enlightened liberals for the outrage of expressing my views on topics such as the threat of government overreach on things such as ObamaCare, climate change legislation, the Second Amendment and pro-growth economics."

"It should go without saying that racial slurs are offensive and uncalled for," added Borelli. "But progressives seem far more aggressive in hurling racist comments than Tea Party members. I find that all the time on my e-mail after I appear on television or radio."

Responding to comments made by Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY) about the racial aspects and alleged racial tone of Tea Party rallies opposed to a government takeover of America's health care system, Borelli said: "In an attempt to inject race into the national debate about government running our nation's health care system, Representative Charlie Rangel made false allegations about the Tea Parties when he said that '[y]ou don't see any black folks in these groups. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.' Considering he's never invited me -- or any of his conservative colleagues, for that matter -- for insight on reworking one-sixth of our economy, he obviously must not realize I am black. He also failed to see the other black faces I've seen at the many tea party rallies I've attended and spoken at over the past few months."

Source

Arty-farties offend Australian blacks



We read:

"It was meant to be the Dreamtime set in stone, a celebration of reconciliation and a "revival of Aboriginal spirituality". But Wanjina Watchers in the Whispering Stone, an 8.5-tonne sculpture in Katoomba, has sparked vandalism and death threats.

"This is the most beautiful thing that has been done for Aboriginal people," a Blue Mountains gallery owner, Vesna Tenodi, says. "They should be thanking me, but instead I get yelled at wherever I go."

Tenodi is the owner, together with her husband Damir, of the ModroGorje Wellness and Art Centre. Originally from Croatia, Tenodi ruffled feathers late last year when she published her book Dreamtime Set in Stone: The Truth about Australian Aborigines, an exploration of indigenous culture that was dedicated to "the Aboriginal people and to the Aborigine in each of us". But the book offended many local Aborigines, not least for its illustrations of wanjina, a sacred creation ancestor of the Kimberley people in Western Australia.

"It's totally inappropriate for a non-indigenous person to be doing wanjinas, especially without permission," said Chris Tobin, a member of the local Darug people who works as a guide with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. "Aboriginal law is very specific on what you can and can't do with wanjinas."

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Court Blocks Website From Reporting The News

First amendment??

"In the last few years, there's been a push by some companies to bring back the immensely troubling "hot news doctrine," that appears to violate everything we know about the First Amendment and copyright law. Basically, the "hot news doctrine" says that if someone reports on a story, others are not allowed to report on their reporting for some period of time -- on the theory that it somehow undermines the incentive to do that original reporting. Last year, we wrote about the very troubling implications of allowing the hot news concept to stand. Beyond the free speech implications, it also has the troubling quality of effectively creating a copyright on facts -- which are quite clearly not covered by copyright. On top of that, it's not necessary in the slightest. As anyone who is actually in the online news business knows, getting a scoop gets you traffic -- even if others report the same thing minutes later. Being first gets you the attention. You don't need to artificially block others from reporting the news.

Unfortunately, with various publications struggling, some have picked up on the hot news doctrine as a way to somehow block competition. Tragically, it looks like a court has now adopted the hot news doctrine in one case. Paul Alan Levy alerts us to the news that a judge issuing an injunction against TheFlyOnTheWall.com, a website that would publish summaries of Wall Street research. The Wall Street firms said this undermined their business model -- and the court agreed. It passed an injunction saying that TheFlyOnTheWall had to hold off publishing any news about any Wall Street research report until either 10am (if the report is released early in the morning) or for two hours after it's released if it comes out during the day.

These totally arbitrary restrictions are highly troubling from a free speech standpoint and seem effectively random. This seems like yet another case of a company being upset by interference with its business model, which should be a reason to change the business model -- not run to the courts.

But what's most troubling of all is that now all the publishers who have been salivating over the hot news doctrine have a legal ruling to point to. Can you imagine how the world would work if you couldn't blog about or mention a particular piece of news for a few hours because the Associated Press got to it first? It's hard to see how this could possibly stand up to a First Amendment analysis, and it's quite troubling that the judge found the way she did.

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Must not generalize about nationalities

Even if it's true

"Air New Zealand has been forced to apologise for a crew manual which suggested that Tongan passengers may "drink the bar dry".

The airline issued the apology after the manual was made public in New Zealand's Sunday Star-Times yesterday.

The document caused a stir by making generalisations about different nationalities, also stating that Korean passengers will expect good manners, Thais expect a souvenir and Samoans will appreciate a rug.

Air New Zealand spokesman Alan Gaskin said the manual was not meant to cause offence.

"This section of the document was designed as a reference guide to ensure international cabin crew were familiar with the expectations of the diverse range of nationalities Air New Zealand carries on its international services," Mr Gaskin told new website Stuff.co.nz.

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Were racial slurs hurled at John Lewis and his entourage by Tea Party members?

We read:

"The MSM has decided the answer is yes: "Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted obscenities at members of the Congressional Black Caucus and spat on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat. The protesters used a racial epithet toward Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, and confronted a gay congressman with taunts."

The meme is clear. And it's not new. Tea Party members have been called racists for some time now by the race hustlers so this isn't surprising. The real question however is did it actually happen.

GatewayPundit brings us a video snippett of the event that seems to cast some serious doubt: Nothing is heard there that would suggest Lewis and his gang of political exploitation experts are correct. Nothing. But of course, it's only a snippet.

Let's assume the charges are true... that someone from the crowd yelled the "N" word and that someone spit at Lewis or Clyburn... who's to say that it wasn't a plant? Do you doubt for a minute that these leftist radicals would stoop to such a ploy? Seriously?

Source

There is now such a long history of Leftists creating "racist" incidents in full confidence that the media will blame it on conservatives that it now should be the default assumption that Leftists did it.

Must not mention testicles in beer ad

Australia:

"Foster's has pulled an advertising campaign that it admitted was too risque for TV just days after it released it online. The series of seven ads for Carlton Draught, which make reference to "man plums" and "goolies", were put on the internet last Wednesday.

The company aborted a TV campaign in late February days before it was due to go to air, after senior executives in the listed alcohol manufacturer got cold feet about the ads. The company then decided that having spent the best part of the $200,000 in fees and production, it felt compelled to release it on the internet in the hope that somehow only its target market of 18- to 30-year-old men would see it.

That strategy appears to have failed and in the past few days, as the ad got more talked about and viewed on the internet - normally something that every marketer craves - Foster's management pulled the plug, fearing a public relations backlash.

Source

"Goolies" is actually Scottish slang. It is very rare for Australians to call them anything but "balls". Video at link. Americans often seem to deal with a similar sensitivity by using a Spanish word: "cojones". For some reason, using the Spanish word seems quite respectable. "Cojones" is not listed in my Spanish dictionary so I gather that it is a slang term too. Spanish slang is OK, apparently. All very strange.

The elastic British definition of "hatred"

We read:

"Last summer the British government banned U.S. radio commentator Michael Savage from setting foot in the UK. “Fostering extremism and hatred ” was his crime, as explained by Britain’s Home Secretary of the time, Jacqui Smith. “Coming to the U.K. is a privilege,” she elaborated, “and I refuse to extend that privilege to individuals who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life. Therefore, I will not hesitate to name and shame those who foster extremist views as I want them to know that they are not welcome here.”

The following month, for a hoopla titled “Cuba 50,” Britain rolled out the red carpet for Che Guevara’s daughter, Aleida. The celebration was billed as “the biggest European celebration in this 50th anniversary year (of Castro’s Stalinist regime).”

This British celebration for a regime that jailed political prisoners at a higher rate than Stalin’s, murdered political prisoners at a higher rate than pre-war Hitler’s, created refugees at a higher rate than the Waffen SS and Gestapo created while conquering and subjugating France, and came closest of anyone to plunging the world into nuclear war—the festival for this regime was held in London’s luxurious Barbican Centre....

“Hatred as the central element of our struggle!” raved Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in his 1966 Message to the Tricontinental Conference in Havana. “Hatred that is intransigent…hatred so violent that it propels a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him violent and cold- blooded killing machine…We reject any peaceful approach. Violence is inevitable. To establish Socialism rivers of blood must flow! The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we’ll destroy him! These hyenas (Americans) are fit only for extermination. We must keep our hatred alive and fan it to paroxysm! The victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims!”

Source

Read the whole thing

Canadian student group attempts to silence Anne Coulter

We read:

"The president of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa has barred a volunteer organizer from putting up posters advertising the upcoming appearance of American right-wing columnist and political commentator Ann Coulter.

She is to talk about political correctness, media bias and freedom of speech Tuesday night at Marion Hall as part of a Canadian lecture tour. Canadian conservative political activist Ezra Levant will also speak at the event and introduce Coulter.

"The federation does not support Ann Coulter speaking on our campus," said student president Seamus Wolfe. "We're trying to work with the administration to see if we can ask her to do her speaking event somewhere else."

He said the federation controls which posters can be placed inside the University Centre building, while administration officials approve posters at other university buildings. A university spokesperson said the administration did not object to the poster. Wolfe said the executive of the federation is in agreement that they don't want to see Coulter speaking on campus.

Nicholas Fleet, a U of O economics student, said it's an "affront" that the student federation has prevented him from putting up posters at the University Centre. "People like Ann Coulter will come and go, but freedoms such as expression need to be tested and should be respected by student unions," said Fleet, adding that he's agreed not to distribute the posters.

Source

They know that she will make them look ridiculous

Heh! Fired teacher hangs Obama effigy in classroom

Amusing to see how the authorities deal with that. Nooses regularly produce great convulsions so this should produce a real riot. But will it? Teachers are generally Left-leaning so I expect this guy will be in a protected class

"A teacher at a failing Rhode Island school where he and all his colleagues were fired hung an effigy of President Barack Obama in his classroom, apparently in reaction to Obama’s support of extreme measures to ensure accountability in schools.

The teachers union on Thursday condemned the effigy, discovered Monday in the teacher’s third-floor classroom at Central Falls High School, saying it was wrong and cannot be condoned under any circumstances.

The effigy was found in the unidentified teacher’s classroom by Superintendent Frances Gallo, Nicole Shaffer of the Rhode Island Department of Education told The Associated Press. Shaffer said the department would not have any further comment.”

Source

British police can't ask for Christian names (could offend other faiths)

We read:

"Police officers have been banned from asking for ‘Christian’ names for fear of offending other religions. fficers taking down a suspect’s particulars must now refer to their ‘personal’ or ‘family name’ as the word ‘Christian’ could offend Muslims, Sikhs and other faiths, according to new diversity guidelines.

They state bobbies on the beat should refrain from using phrases such as ‘my dear’ or ‘love’, when addressing women for fear it may cause embarrassment or offence. Well-meaning gestures like handshakes or putting a comforting arm around a victim or grieving family member are also prohibited as it could be deemed ‘unprofessional’.

They are also warned not to use terms like afternoon or evening as it could confuse people of ‘different cultural backgrounds’ about the time of day.

The booklet also contains a section on appropriate terms to describe ethnic origin, suggesting ‘mixed parentage’ or ‘mixed cultural heritage’ should be used instead of ‘mixed race’.

Staff are warned that when speaking to someone from Africa or Asia, they should refer to their specific country rather than the continent as a whole.

The rulebook has been described by Kent Police Federation secretary Peter Harman as a ‘useful and educational reference guide to dealing with different communities’. But it has angered some rank and file officers who say it is politically correct nonsense.

One officer said: ‘Most of us are fully aware of how to treat people from different cultural backgrounds, but being told we can’t even ask what their Christian name is just plain ridiculous. ‘That is what we are brought up with—Christian name and surname—and to be honest if you had an officer ask for your personal name and family name it’s just going to confuse people....

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Must not "control" even pictures of a woman



Feminist rage:

"A Melbourne bookstore has sparked outrage after being discovered selling a "control a woman" remote - on International Women's Day. The ABC reported Borders was forced to defend the $15 novelty product after a woman told of her anger at seeing it during last week's celebration of female rights and achievements.

Katie Robertson told ABC Radio she was "troubled" by the toy, "mainly because it encourages a stereotype of women as submissive, who are to be controlled". "There are certain buttons on there. For example, the male may decide that he wants beer, sex or food," she said. "He may press a button in which he requires the woman to remove her clothes, cook, clean, leave, (or) say yes. "There's also a button in which you can increase her breast size."

Borders spokeswoman Lauren Thompson said the product was intended to be "a bit funny, a bit of a gimmick", adding "it is base level humour". She also said the chain sells a "control a man" remote, which has sold out.

Source

Keen censors in Australia

We read:

"The Australian Human Rights Commission has threatened legal action against a widely read but controversial US-based website over an article that encourages racial hatred against Aborigines. But online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia said that trying to stamp out the deplorable content would only create the "Streisand" effect, whereby an attempt to censor online content only brings more attention to it.

In a letter to Joseph Evers, the owner of Encyclopedia Dramatica (ED) - a more shocking version of Wikipedia that contains racist and other offensive articles dubbed as "satire" - the commission said it had received 20 complaints from Aborigines over the "Aboriginal" page on the site.

The same page was in the news in January when, in a rare move, Google Australia agreed to remove links to the article from its search engine following legal action from Aboriginal man Steve Hodder-Watt.

On the Australian Communication and Media Authority's blacklist of "refused classification" websites, which was leaked in March last year, encyclopediadramatica.com was included. This means the entire site will most likely be blocked under the government's forthcoming internet filtering plan.

The commission argued in its letter, the first page of which was published by Evers on his website, that the article on Aborigines constituted racial hatred and was in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

A disclaimer at the top of the article, which is too vulgar to repeat here, says it was "not racist at all" because it was written by "Australian aborigines who are satirizing racists in Australia in the same way that Sacha Baron Cohen, a jew, uses the character Borat to satirize anti-semetism [sic]". A separate article on the site about Australia says the country is "comprised entirely of the still imprisoned distant relatives of Britain's worst criminals (tax dodging sheep f*****) and other detritus and a haven for aspiring international terrorists".

The page is illustrated with a picture of Josef Fritzl draped in an Australian flag. Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison for raping his daughter and for imprisoning her and their children over a 24-year period.

Evers had argued in an email to the commission that, because his site was hosted in the US, it was covered by the country's free speech regulations and not subject to Australian laws.

Source

No right for store owners to protect their property or choose whom they will serve?

We read:

"A Fort Wayne business that posted a sign barring Burmese immigrants from entering could face a civil rights complaint.

Ricker Oil Co. president Jay Ricker has apologized for the sign posted by an employee and says the business welcomes all customers. But director Gerald Foday of Fort Wayne’s Metropolitan Human Relations Commission says he is considering filing a complaint.

The sign attempted to bar Burmese people “for sanitary reasons.” Fort Wayne is home to about 5,000 Burmese, the largest concentration in the United States. Many chew betel nut and spit the residue, which can result in red stains.

Health department spokesman John Silcox says businesses can’t banish an entire group because of an individual’s actions. [But it was NOT just one individual's actions. It was the common behavior of a group -- JR]

Source

TX: Federal court strikes down gun rights protest restrictions at college

We read:

"Late yesterday, in a striking victory for the First Amendment on campus, a federal district court in Texas ruled that a number of restrictions on students’ speech at Tarrant County College (TCC) are unconstitutional.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means found that TCC’s reliance on a policy prohibiting ‘disruptive activities’ to restrict students Clayton Smith and John Schwertz from holding an ‘empty holster’ protest violated the First Amendment.”

Source

Them thar empty holsters sure is dangerous!

Racially Charged Display Sparks Debate Over Free Speech, Hate Speech‏

We read:

"A racially-charged message posted on a Chicago garage is pitting a homeowner's right to free speech against a federal law that says people cannot attempt to intimidate people of different races looking to move to the neighborhood.

Michael Corrigan posted a display on his garage on the city's south side that read, "Say no to the ghetto. White Power. Mt. Greenwood, the next Englewood," and next to the words he hung a white noose, MyFoxChicago.com reported. It faced the home up for sale next to Corrigan's.

The city's Human Relations Commission called it racist and deplorable, and the city has asked federal authorities to investigate whether or not it is intimidation that violates the Fair Housing Act.

One civil rights lawyer thinks the message is disturbing but doesn't know if it violates any laws, especially since the First Amendment guarantees people the right to express even objectionable views.

Source

Swastika in Australian suburb spurs war of words



We read:

"A Daisy Hill man is refusing to take down a swastika flag on his property despite mounting concern from residents and Logan city officials. The 43-year-old, who describes himself as a “white nationalist’’ and opted not to be named, said he put the flag up as a display of white pride. He rejected any suggestion his decision was a support for Nazism and said he had not received any complaints from neighbours.

But Logan and District RSL president Ken Heard said the flag could generate bad memories for many people in the community and said it should be removed. “I think a lot of people, especially the older generation, would find it very offensive,’’ Mr Heard said.

Logan City councillor Darren Power (Division 10) backed the RSL president but said council had no way to force the flag’s removal. “I think this guy is sending the wrong message out and I think you will find that he’s upsetting the people he’s trying to support,’’ Cr Power said. “It’s got no place in Australia where we are trying to show the world that we’re a place of tolerance. I guess that tolerance is also allowing freedom of speech, but it can go too far.’’

The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission said it was not illegal to fly a swastika flag, but anyone who felt vilified could lodge a complaint.

Source

I may be wrong but I don't think this guy would get away with it in America. Some law would be twisted to harass him.

Amazing impertinence: Arizona Town Bans Home Bible Study

We read:

"The national Alliance Defense Fund says a town code that bars religious assemblies in private homes in the Arizona community of Gilbert is unconstitutional.

The Oasis of Truth church began meeting at Pastor Joe Sutherland's house in November and rotated homes several times a week for Bible study and fellowship.

A Gilbert code compliance officer hit the church with a violation notice after seeing a sign near a road advertising a Sunday service. A zoning administrator told the church that Bible studies, church leadership meetings and fellowship activities are not permitted in private homes.

The Alliance Defense Fund's Doug Napier says no neighbors complained. The Scottsdale-based group has filed an appeal with the town of Gilbert, contending its code violates the U.S. Constitution.

Source

A Bible study would have to be one of the most innocuous and harmless activities known to man. Attempting to ban one has got to be pure hate. The same town has previously tried to ban church signs. There must be something in the water there.

Hate speech alleged in car review

A rather amusing story from South Africa:

"The Muslim Judicial Council has accused The Times newspaper of hate speech after one of its journalists, in a review of a car, likened its silent engine to "a Muslim rodent in a synagogue".

Muslim Judicial Council spokeswoman Nabeweya Malick said the comparison was unnecessary and insulting to the Muslim community. Malick said the negative connotation would "damage and distort the image, integrity and respect for the Muslim community" and could "create prejudice and bigotry between SA's different races and religions".

The Times referred the Cape Argus to an apology it had published, which said that even though the phrase was "intended as jest", many readers had complained.

Source

Progress

Firstly, many thanks for the much-appreciated good wishes from readers in connection with my cataract operation.

It went "very, very well" according to the ophthalmic surgeon, so rapid healing will hopefully ensue. The private clinic I went to could not imaginably be better, I think. Private medicine in Australia is very, very good -- as good as public medicine is bad. Yet my private health insurer is covering 100% of the charges from the clinic and from the anesthetist but I have to pay something towards the fees of the surgeon.

I was in and out quite rapidly and experienced only minimal pain and discomfort. And even now that the anesthetic has worn off I am not in any pain.

I am writing this using my one good eye at the moment and managed to put something up yesterday on all my blogs -- though with reduced postings in some instances. You can't keep a good blogger down! I have had multiple surgical procedures of one sort or another since I started blogging but I don't think I have missed a day yet.

Canada: Levant says libel suit aims to ‘chill’ debate

We read:

"Free-speech blogger Ezra Levant has accused anti-hate activist Richard Warman of exploiting court processes to publicly "scandalize" him with "wholly irrelevant" allegations, and to discourage his "public service journalism" against human rights commissions.

The claim is in an affidavit, obtained by the National Post, that is part of Mr. Levant's defence against a libel suit brought by Mr. Warman.

A judge is to rule later this month whether Mr. Levant can examine files gathered by Mr. Warman over his decade of activism against those who post hate messages on the Internet, which includes 16 cases at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

In an affidavit supporting his request for disclosure, Mr. Levant said Mr. Warman's "focus on my political views, and [his] express concern for the political reputation of non-parties to this lawsuit, such as Mr. Warman's former employer, the [Canadian Human Rights Commission], demonstrates my contention that his lawsuit is indeed a ‘SLAPP' suit -- Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation -- designed to ‘chill' public discussion of these issues."

Source

Muslim incitement to violence under scrutiny

We read:

"Authorities in Canada are investigating an anti-Semitic website that accused Jews of being behind several murderous terrorist attacks. The website's creator, York University student Salman Hossain, has been suspended from school and will face a disciplinary panel.

The Ontario Police's hate crimes and extremism unit is looking into Hossain's writings.

Hossain, a dual citizen of Bangladesh and Canada, created a site called “filthyjewishterrorists.com” on which he blamed terrorist attacks in the United States and Canada on “the mass murdering terrorist Jewish community.” He accused Jews of being behind terrorist attacks that were in fact perpetrated by Muslims, and said that the Jews carried out the attacks in order to make Muslims look bad.

He called to murder all Jews in Europe and North America if a terrorist attack were to take place in Canada.

"The university is moving on this issue in a serious fashion,” York University said in a statement. “We want all of our students, all of our community members, to be safe,” the school added.

Source

There is general agreement that incitement to violence does not have free speech protection

Possible hiatus

I am going into a private clinic later today to have cataract procedure on my right eye -- which I am NOT looking forward to. But it has to be done. So I have no idea how much I will be able to post over the next few days. But, like General MacArthur, I shall return.

Seinfeld sued for calling author a "wacko"

We read:

"A kid's cookbook creator is still trying to take a bite out of Jerry Seinfeld, the New York Post reported. Missy Chase Lapine, whose suit against recipe rival Jessica Seinfeld was thrown out of federal court last year, is now taking aim at her funnyman husband in state court. She says the TV star slandered her during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, when he referred to her as "angry and hysterical" and a "wacko" stalker. In a later interview with E! News, he referred to Lapine as a "nut."

Ms Lapine's state Supreme Court suit says she's none of the above - she's simply a cookbook author who suspected Seinfeld's wife of stealing her ideas and recipes for her bestseller, Deceptively Delicious...

Ms Lapine sued both Seinfelds in federal court - Jessica for ripping off her idea and Jerry for ripping her - but a judge found Jessica hadn't stolen her book, and said the slander case should be heard in state court.

Source

If everyone who got insulted went to court over it, there would be a huge traffic jam in the courts so the outcome of this could be interesting. As far as I can see, insults are protected free speech but whether any of it constitutes libel is the interesting part.

Spain: Basque leader jailed for “glorifying terrorism”

We read:

"A Spanish court on Tuesday sentenced the leader of the banned Basque separatist party Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi, to two years in jail after being convicted on charges of glorifying terrorism. Otegi, a former spokesman for Batasuna, the political wing of the armed separatist group ETA, was tried last month over remarks he made at a 2005 rally in the Basque region in memory of a jailed ETA member, Jose Maria Sagarduy. His lawyers had argued that he was exercising his right to free speech but the High Court ruled that he made comments at the event ‘which constitute without a doubt the crime of glorifying terrorism

Source

This is probably a correct verdict under Spanish law but it might not fly in the USA

Taxachusetts: Jail for dissing 'gays' pulled after publicity

We read:

"A measure in the Massachusetts statehouse to allow jail time for criticism of homosexuality has been pulled abruptly after a conservative group publicized the move by lawmakers.

The apparent precedent of criminalizing opinions about homosexuality had been predicted by opponents of the nation's "hate crimes" law before it was adopted as an amendment to a must-pass military bill in Congress and signed by President Obama last year. According to Mass Resistance, which monitors the state legislature, the lawmakers added to a bill addressing schools an unrelated provision providing the jail time.

The planned addition to the Massachusetts General Laws would have been: "Whoever publishes any false material whether written, printed, electronic, televised, or broadcast with intent to maliciously promote hatred of any group of persons in the commonwealth because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, or disability shall be guilty of libel and shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both."

Mass Resistance said the move would be "very extreme." "Similar laws have been used in Canada and other countries to snuff out critical reporting on the homosexual movement and severely prosecute offenders. Note that the word 'hatred' is not defined and is thus completely subjective. And 'false material' lays the burden of proof on the accused, under the judgment of a court or tribunal. So even the threat of a long, expensive trial is enough to silence just about everyone," the group reported.

Spokesman Brian Camenker, however, reported to WND today that less than 24 hours after the issue was publicized, lawmakers removed the provision... He said lawmakers are aware this is an election year and are "walking a tightrope" between advancing the special interests to which they've committed and raising the ire of an electorate that clearly is not aligned with some of those special interests. He said he was glad for the victory but cautious because he doesn't believe the plan is going away.

Source

Leftists really hate normal people. Lucky the mid-terms were looming in the minds of these thug lawmakers.

Can't call black hoodlums "hoodlums"

We read:

"Pinellas School Board chairwoman Janet Clark is coming under fire for using the term “hoodlums” to describe a small group of chronically disruptive students in county schools. Board members Mary Brown and Linda Lerner criticized Clark at Tuesday night’s board meeting. And now Ray Tampa, president of the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP, said Clark’s refusal to apologize has made things worse. “I was disgusted with her response,” Tampa said Wednesday.

The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement—better known as the Uhurus—called for Clark to resign for the statement, which it viewed as racist. Clark is white. Tampa said he thought the comment was inappropriate, but not racist.

Clark made the comment at a board workshop last week in a wide-ranging discussion about chronically disruptive students at John Hopkins Middle School and other Pinellas schools. "So much time is taken up with addressing hoodlums, with kids who don’t want to be in school,” she said. She also said, “We are talking about a small number of children.”

Before the meeting, Clark said the statement had nothing to do with race. “I made no mention of race,” she said. “There are hoodlums of all races and colors and ethnic backgrounds.”

It does not appear the origins of the word “hoodlum” have any ties to race or ethnicity. It is an adaptation of a German word that meant “ragamuffin” or “good for nothing,” said Michael Adams, an associate professor of English at Indiana University and author of the 2009 book, Slang: The People’s Poetry.

"Hoodlum, when you look it up in the dictionary, doesn’t look so bad,” Adams said. But when people in the black community hear it, “they associate it with words and meanings other than (those from) 1871 or whenever it was the word first appeared in print.”

Source

This is the result of the Left seeing racism under every bed

A blast from the past

I have decided, as an experiment, to put up the header for the original Tongue-Tied above. I think that a lot of readers here will remember it well.

Any comments for or against?

REDIRECT for "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH"

Response times on the site hosting "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH" have become so slow as to render the blog almost inaccessible.

I have therefore moved the blog back to its original home on blogspot. Go HERE to access all the recent postings.

I moved it off blogspot at a time when Google (the owner of blogspot) was having a severe bout of irrationality but they seem to have settled down since then so I am hoping that the move back can be permanent.

US appeals court upholds “under God” in loyalty oath

The 9th Circus is not so bad after all!

"A federal appeals court upheld the use of the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance and ‘In God We Trust’ on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who said the references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs.”

Source

UC San Diego ends unconstitutional funding freeze

We read:

"In a victory for freedom of the press on campus, the student government of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) voted last night to end an ongoing moratorium on funding for student media. The vote restores funding for student media organizations and makes no changes to the current policy governing student media. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has been working with student media to end the funding freeze.”

Source

The student media said some naughty things, apparently. But that is a tradition with student media.

Iceland: After banking bust, free-speech turn

We read:

"Seeking a new global role for Iceland following the banking bust caused by its stint as a financial superpower, the country’s lawmakers on Feb. 16 turned to a new vision: Turn the country into a haven for free speech.

Measures before Parliament are aimed at improving transparency laws and luring Internet-based media and data centers from all over the world to use Iceland as a base for investigative journalism.

One aim is to counter challenges to media freedom in other countries such as Britain, where laws heavily favor plaintiffs in libel cases. But Iceland doesn’t want the innovation to stop there.”

Source

Speech code of the month: Murray State University in Kentucky

We read:

"FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for March 2010: Murray State University in Kentucky. According to Murray State’s Student Life Policies, conduct violations in the university’s residence halls may be punished by ‘creative educational sanctions,’ such as ‘writ[ing] a letter of apology’ and ‘mak[ing] signs or bulletin boards.’

These sanctions amount to compelled speech that violates Murray State’s legal and moral obligations as a public institution to uphold its students’ First Amendment right to freedom of conscience.”

Source

Dan Rather: "Articulate" Obama Couldn’t Even "Sell Watermelons"

We read:

"I await the silence and the excuses from the media. Obama will tell us how Rather has always been a man of "good intentions," and always on the "right side of the issues."



Source

If a conservative broadcaster had said that, the shrieks of "racism" would be resounding from coast to coast.

For any non-American readers: Blacks are popularly believed to love fried chicken and watermelons. So any time anyone associates either food with a black it is "sterotyping" and hence "racist". Nobody mentions what has been known among psychologists since the 1930s: That stereotypes usually have a "kernel of truth". See here and here for summaries of the research. But truth is a very secondary consideration for Leftists. Projecting their own hostile impulses onto others is much more important.

College pupil's Facebook slur against teacher

I think the kid got off very lightly. Libel is a serious offense. This happened in Australia. School authorities would have come down on him like a ton of bricks if it had been in America

"A Catholic college student who falsely accused a teacher of being a gay paedophile on Facebook has escaped with just a suspension.

Philip Morison, the principal of Emmanuel College, Warrnambool, said that the junior secondary student had posted false sexual innuendo about the teacher on the social networking site. Mr Morison said about 40 other students had joined the group page, but the teacher did not want to know their names. "At first he (the teacher) was obviously upset. But we talked about it, and he understood the student was going after a teacher rather than the person.

"I asked him (the student) why he did it, and he basically thought it was just a bit of fun." Mr Morison said the student had apologised and was back at school. The site had been shut down immediately it was detected. It is believed no further action will be taken.

Source

SCOTUS to rule in military funeral protest case

We read:

"The Supreme Court will review whether anti-gay protests at funerals of American soldiers are protected by the First Amendment, taking up the appeal of a Maryland man who won and then had reversed a $10 million verdict against the small Kansas church that conducts the demonstrations.

The case will seek to balance a group's free speech rights with the rights of private individuals to be protected from unwanted demonstrations and defamatory remarks. A federal appeals court said the church's protests were "utterly distasteful" but protected because they were related to "matters of public concern."

The funeral protest case is brought by a Maryland father whose son's 2006 funeral in Westminster was picketed by members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. Westboro pastor Fred W. Phelps Sr. contends that the deaths of American soldiers are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality and has organized nearly 43,000 protests since 1991, according to the church's Web site.

Source

Deranged though Phelps is, I think his right to say what he thinks is undoubted under the 1st Amendment. And if that right is upheld by SCOTUS it will be a bright shining example of American tolerance that every American could point to with pride. Tolerating people you agree with is easy. It is the likes of Phelps who put tolerance to the test and show if there is any real tolerance in a nation. All countries in Europe would fail the test.

Sean Penn Wants Reporters Jailed for Calling Chavez 'Dictator'‏

As usual, no free speech allowed for critics of the Left

"First Amendment be damned . . . If Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn had his way, any journalist who called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator would quickly find himself behind bars.

Penn, appearing on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday, defended Chavez during a segment in which he detailed his work with the JP Haitian Relief Organization, which he co-founded. "Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it" said Penn, winner of two Best Actor Academy Awards. "And this is mainstream media, who should -- truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies."

Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News' senior judicial analyst, said the same constitutional protection that applies to journalists also applies to Penn, who can say pretty much anything he wants in the "political arena" -- aside from an immediate incitement of violence. "What he is saying is protected, as wacky and weird as it is," Napolitano told FoxNews.com. "But the substance of what he's saying would be absolutely contrary to the First Amendment, which fully protects all political opinions. So if a journalist says Dick Cheney should go to jail, the journalist is privileged to say that."

"Mr. Penn is calling for a communist-like regime in which journalists who criticize the government are sent to jail because of that criticism," Napolitano added. "That is utterly un-American and hasn't happened here since the Civil War."

Napolitano, meanwhile, said Penn apparently prefers "thuggery" to democracy. "In light of his ignorance of freedom of speech, his wishing rectal cancer on his detractors, and his embracing tyrants, Mr. Penn obviously prefers thuggery to democracy," he continued.

Source

Students Throw Cotton Balls, Are Arrested for Felony Hate Crime

Where is the law that says it is a crime to throw cotton? It would makes some sense at law if they were charged with littering but anything else is making the law up as you go along

"Two students at the University of Missouri-Columbia were suspended Wednesday after their arrests in a case of cotton balls thrown across the lawn of the campus black-culture center.

Campus police on Tuesday evening arrested the students, one of whom is from the St. Louis area, on suspicion of a felony hate crime. The two were released on bond, and charges were pending.

The incident happened early Friday at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, near the middle of campus. Nathan Stephens, the center’s coordinator, said students were offended because of the “symbolic violence” that harkened to days of slavery on cotton plantations.

Source

Blacks must not be reminded of cotton? If the students behind it are discovered to have Leftist symathies, it will be decided that they were simply drawing attention to the hard labor that blacks were once forced to do in the cotton plantations.

Must not compare Mrs Obama to a chimp



Even though GWB got called that a zillion times by Leftists:

"Walt Baker, the CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association believes she resembles a chimpanzee, and he found the idea so hilarious he had to share his racism with his pals. He forwarded a “joke” racist email to 12 prominent Nashville citizens (all white males) comparing Michelle Obama to Tarzan’s chimp Cheeta:

“I was at the store yesterday, and I ran into Tarzan! I asked him how it was going and if he was into anymore movies? He told me that he could no longer make any more movies as he had severe arthritis in both shoulders and could no longer swing from vine to tree. I asked how Jane was doing, he told me she was in bad shape, in a nursing home, has Alzheimer’s and no longer recognizes anyone, how sad. I asked about Boy, and he told me that Boy had gone to the big city, got hooked up with bad women, drugs, alcohol, and the only time he heard from him was if he was in trouble or needed something. I asked about Cheeta, he beamed and said she was doing good, had married a Lawyer and now lived in the White House!!!”

As the fallout over the crude email continued and made it to the local news channel, Spyridon released a statement condemning Baker’s email, as “appalling and unacceptable” and terminated the NCVB’s “contract with Mr. Baker’s marketing agency, Mercatus Communications.”

Source

The usual double standard

College demands return of campus speech code

In good Leftist style, they just LOVE censorship

"The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has begun reviewing a request by the Los Angeles Community College District for permission to reactivate speech restrictions under which one professor called a Christian student a "fascist b----rd" for discussing a moral conviction against homosexual marriage.

After erupting angrily in class, the professor, John Matteson, then told the student to "Ask God what your grade is."

A hearing was held today before the appellate court on the college district's request to remove a preliminary injunction imposed by a lower court that prohibited enforcement of the speech code – which was found unconstitutional – while a lawsuit against the school moves forward.

According to the Alliance Defense Fund, if the policy is restored, it will allow the college to trump student free-speech rights protected by the First Amendment while the case is litigated.

The case erupted shortly after the presidential election in 2008, when Matteson censored and threatened to expel student Jonathan Lopez following a speech he gave about his Christian faith during an open-ended assignment in a public speaking class.

According to ADF, after Lopez gave the dictionary definition of marriage and recited two Bible verses, Matteson interrupted and ended Lopez's presentation mid-speech, calling him and anyone who voted yes on Proposition 8 – the California marriage amendment – a "fascist b----rd" in front of the class.

"Refusing to grade the assigned speech, the professor wrote on Lopez's speech evaluation form, 'Ask God what your grade is,' and later threatened to expel the student," ADF reported.

In the ADF lawsuit against the college district, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an injunction, prohibiting the district from enforcing its speech code as the case moves forward. In September, the court denied LACCD's motion to reconsider the order, asserting the policy "undeniably targets the content of expression" and is "unconstitutionally overbroad by sweeping within its reach a substantial amount of protected speech."

Source

Outspoken Australian model



She goes a bit overboard but not everything she said was wrong:

"Controversial Sunbury model Cassi Van Den Dungen has called the French "frog eaters" and "snail slurpers" after a trip to Paris turned sour. The 17-year-old resorted to Facebook during the week to slam French people and prestigious model agency IMG, which was working on getting her an exclusive deal during Paris fashion week.

"I'm coming home tomorrow, all these people are f----- in the head, the agency is trying to run me, not the other way round," Van Den Dungen wrote.

She and boyfriend Brad Saul returned home this week, after gaining no modelling work.

The couple also attacked French Asians on the social networking site. "Ohhhh and the Frasians (French Asians) are idiots," Van Den Dungen wrote. Saul replied: "And they can't drive."

Van Den Dungen yesterday admitted she had made a mistake and apologised. "I was having a really bad day and I shouldn't have taken that out on Facebook, I regret that," she told the Sunday Herald Sun.

Source

That the French eat frog's legs and snails has always seemed distasteful to Anglo-Saxons and derogatory comments about Chinese drivers are also widespread. China does have a phenomenal rate of traffic accidents.

Man-ban in the British parliament

We read:

"Parliament has banished the word 'chairman' from its proceedings for being too sexist. MPs voted by 206 to 90 to replace it with the gender neutral 'chair' as part of sweeping reforms in the Commons. The move was endorsed by Commons Leader Harriet Harman, who has spearheaded a feminist agenda at Westminster.

But Tory MP Nadine Dorries condemned the move as 'ridiculous'. She said: 'What a complete nonsense. MPs should be getting on with the more substantive reforms in the Commons rather than dealing with this politically correct frippery.'

Source

Since sex differences play such a large part in out lives, refusing to acknowledge them seems hostile to reality, to me. But Leftists never have been very comfortable with reality.

Prayers incorrect in Tennessee?

We read:

"The Cheatham County School Board agreed Monday to settle a lawsuit with the ACLU, which had claimed the school district promoted religion. The board voted 5-1 to accept the settlement agreement.

Greg Horton, who cast the only no vote, said the settlement goes too far in requiring the surrendering of rights that are not his or anyone else’s to surrender or should have to surrender. He also believes that the settlement was what the ACLU demanded.

In part, the settlement says school officials shall not ‘promote, advance, endorse, participate in or cause prayers during or in conjunction with school events for any school within the school district.’”

Source

Jailed over a big ad

We read:

"Kayvan Setareh must be a terrible man; he was tossed into a Los Angeles jail last week. Held on $1 million bail. Did Setareh kill or kidnap someone? No. He put up a large movie ad on his building without a permit. Setareh finally got out of jail Monday; by agreeing to take down the eight-story ad, called a supergraphic, a judge lowered his bail to $100,000. This is the latest episode in the exploits of LA’s aesthetics police, sworn to protect the delicate sensitivities of Tinseltown.”

Source

Some unhappy with bikini ad for Perky Cups coffee



We read:

"Officials said a bikini and the First Amendment provide enough coverage for a model advertising a suburban Denver coffee shop called Perky Cups. Aurora City Council member Molly Markert called the picture on the 10-by-20-foot banner "degrading to women," but she says it's legal. Markert said she had city employees measure the banner, and it conforms with city size restrictions.

Robert Rogers, a city attorney, said the content is protected by the First Amendment.

Perky Cups owner Jason Bernal said people have come into the shop to complain, but one stayed to buy a burrito and coffee. He said the sign has been great for business but he's not sure how long he'll leave it because of the complaints.

Source

I think that the people who complained should get a life

New trial possible in online 'threat' case

We read:

"A construction worker charged with threatening to strangle Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley could get a new trial, after a special appeals court ruled last week that a Baltimore County trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the difference between threats and political speech. Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler must now decide whether to appeal to Maryland's highest court or send the case back to Baltimore County to be retried.

Walter C. Abbott Jr. of Parkville, Md., was convicted in October 2008 of making a criminal threat and sentenced to six months in jail, a $500 fine and two years' unsupervised probation. The jail time was suspended.

The case arose in March 2008 after Mr. Abbott sent a message via the governor's Web site, which solicited constituent feedback. Claiming he was angry that his business was hurt by the governor's immigration and labor policies, Mr. Abbott wrote: "If I ever get close enough to you, I will wrap my hands around your throat and strangle the life from you."

After rejecting a plea offer of probation before judgment, Mr. Abbott was convicted by a Baltimore County jury - but without the jury receiving a critical instruction from Judge Dana M. Levitz. "I find it disgusting, I find it outrageous," Judge Levitz said at trial, refusing a request by Mr. Abbott's lawyer that he instruct the jury on the difference between a threat and free speech. "It doesn't make any difference that you say 'because I disagree with his politics.' The law doesn't permit that."

The appeals court disagreed. "The [judge] never informed the jury that only a true threat falls within the statute, and that political vitriol may fall outside its ambit," the three-judge panel wrote. "The [judge] should have instructed the jury as to the requirement of a true threat, which is distinguished from constitutionally protected free speech."

Source

Australian rocker tells it like it is

We read:

"Rock'n'roll bad boy Gary "Angry" Anderson believes life experience has taught him "Aussies use their fists" when they fight and that "weapons were introduced by other cultures".

The former Rose Tattoo frontman's comments before a Parliamentary inquiry yesterday have experts describing his views as "pure fantasy" and ignoring "the realities of life".

Anderson, 63, was adamant he's not racist and said politically correct bureaucrats were getting in the way of progress when it comes to preventing youth violence. "The racial thing, the cultural thing needs to be addressed because it's not going to go away," he told a Federal Parliamentary Committee into the impact of violence on youth.

"You never kick a bloke when he's down . . . you don't gang up on a bloke. These things are Australian and we shouldn't shy away from being Australian." The father of four said he had taught his sons these principles, adding that "other cultures" - Lebanese, Indochinese and Pacific Islanders - had introduced weapons.

"We have to acknowledge that they have a different view about how they deal with each other," he said.

Source

At age 66 I am old enough to remember how things were in Australia when the population was almost entirely of European origin and my recollection tallies exactly with how Anderson describes it.

NCAA Officials Cave to Homosexual Activists



We read:

"Celebrate Family. Celebrate Life. Unless, that is, you’re involved with the National Collegiate Athletic Association. According to the American Family Association, officials with the NCAA pulled a Focus on the Family advertisement containing that message from the organization’s web site recently after homosexual activists complained.

This Focus on the Family ad, believe it or not, has been yanked off the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) website for one simple reason: Focus on the Family supports natural marriage, believing that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

The NCAA, who apparently believes only in selective diversity – “Christians need not apply” – has censored this ad after homosexual activists complained.

Look at the message again. By scrubbing this ad, is the NCAA saying we want our sons to grow up knowing how to do the wrong thing? With the number of NCAA athletes who get in trouble with the law every week, you’d think the NCAA would enthusiastically support a message which urges fathers to be great role models for their sons and athletes-to-be.

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More manufactured "racist" incidents

White racists at work? Most unlikely. It will be just kids fooling around or Leftists deliberately stirring the pot.

"A firestorm over racially and ethnically charged incidents at several University of California campuses spread Tuesday as UC San Diego announced a KKK-style hood was found on campus and students in Los Angeles and Irvine demonstrated against intolerance.

At UC Irvine, about 250 people gathered for a "student solidarity speakout" to condemn the recent spate of racist incidents at UC San Diego that targeted black students and another incident last month at UC Davis, which targeted a Jewish student with a swastika carved on her door, said Marya Bangee, an event organizer.

The protests came on the same day UC San Diego announced the discovery of a white pillowcase fashioned into a KKK-style hood _ the third racist incident around the campus in as many weeks _ and a day after UC Santa Cruz officials found an image of a noose scribbled on the inside of a bathroom door.

Officials found the hood, which bore a hand-drawn circle and cross, on a statue of children's book author Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, outside the main campus library late Monday. A rose had been inserted between the statue's fingers.

Source

My best guess that there is a "spate" of these incidents because some kids are amused at the hysterical reaction they provoke. They are "copycat" provocations, in other words.

I thought so

The latest noose incident was the work of a "minority" student. As soon as I saw the report of this "hate crime" I very nearly put up a note of it identifying it as unlikely to be the work of "white racists". But I decided to wait and see instead. There have been so many fake "hate crimes" in the past that fakery is the first thing one must suspect in such incidents:

"The UC San Diego student reportedly responsible for hanging a noose last week in a campus library issued a public, but anonymous, apology Monday and said she had no racist motivation.

The noose's discovery set off protests at a school that is already tense from recent racially charged episodes and triggered condemnations from UC leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In a letter published Monday on the front page of the UC San Diego student newspaper, the Guardian, the student wrote that the incident was "a mindless act and stupid mistake" and was not meant to recall the lynching of blacks.

"As a minority student who sympathizes with the students that have been affected by the recent issues on campus, I am distraught to know that I have unintentionally added to their pain," the student wrote. She was suspended Friday and remains under investigation for a possible hate crime.

Source

Amusing that even the Governator was sucked in. Leftists would have revelled in it, of course.

Bible incorrect

We read:

"School administrators in Texas face a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of three students, accusing the school district of refusing to allow children to carry or read the Bible.

The lawsuit, filed in Houston, alleges that a teacher pulled two sisters from class after discovering that they were carrying Bibles and threatened to have them picked up by child-welfare authorities.

Another teacher told a pupil he was not allowed to read the Bible during free reading time and forced him to put it away, the lawsuit alleges. The boy also was required to remove a Ten Commandments book cover from another book, the lawsuit states.

"My daughters called me, were hysterical, and said, 'Mama, they took our Bibles and called them garbage and threw them in the garbage and then threatened to call Child Protective Services,' " said Deborah Bedenbender, 37, a Willis homemaker.

Source

More details here

Police probe ‘racist’ T-shirts at Scottish shop



We read:

"An Aberdeen shop boss today told how he was left stunned when police turned up – to investigate his “racist” T-shirts. Slanj of Scotland, in Aberdeen’s George Street, has been selling tops backing anyone to win the football World Cup but England.

But the Aberdeen shop’s assistant manager Jamie Wilkinson today said he was shocked when officers launched an investigation over claims the T-shirts could incite violence during the World Cup.

Today Jamie, 23, insisted the T-shirts’ slogan, “ABE Anyone But England – South Africa 2010”, was nothing more than “harmless football banter”. He said: “It has nothing to do with hating the English, it is just about winding them up – and it seems to be working.”

Mr Wilkinson was told another T-shirt at the Aberdeen shop with the slogan “Algeria, USA and Slovenia Supporters’ Club” – a reference to the teams England will face in the first round of the World Cup – had also prompted claims of racism. But no action was taken and the Aberdeen shop will continue to sell the T-shirts.

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French state railway sparks racism fury with warning on Romanians

We read:

"The French state railway network has been accused of racism after asking passengers to report Romanians to security staff following a spate of thefts. A safety information notice posted in SNCF trains in southwest France warned of “problems with Romanians” and said that “numerous thefts of luggage have been noticed”.

In terms reminiscent of the Italian Government’s onslaught against alleged Romanian criminals, the message told passengers to be “doubly vigilant” and added that “all acts by Romanians must be reported”.

The signs were denounced by the writer Mouloud Akkouche, who at first thought that they were a bad joke by a local prankster. He said he was stunned to discover that they were the work of the SNCF’s passengers safety unit.

The revelation brought a furious reaction from Romanians living in France. Roumanophilie, a Franco-Romanian internet site, said that French railways were “turning to anti-Romanian racism”.

As the controversy threatened to sour relations between Paris and Bucharest, the SNCF issued an apology, blaming the “unfortunate expression” on an individual guard and saying that the signs had been taken down as soon as executives in Paris had been alerted.

The sign relit a debate that has never gone away in France over the wisdom of allowing Romania to enter the European Union — seen as an error by a substantial slice of French public opinion.

French newspapers regularly report alleged criminal acts by Romanian gangs. They said last month that eight Romanian children aged between 12 and 17 had been arrested for allegedly stealing a total of €20,000 (£18,000) from people withdrawing money from cash dispensers in the Paris region.

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The "Romanians" are in fact gypsies ("Roma"), who traditionally live by petty crime

Feminists squash Pam Anderson advertisement

We read:

"A commercial featuring Pamela Anderson in a gold bikini rubbing against another scantily clad woman while being sprayed with a white liquid has "crossed the line" in bad taste and been banned from Australian television.

But the company responsible for the ad, Crazy Domains, a business that registers internet domain names, is fighting the decision. A spokesman for the Perth company said the ad was no worse than some music video clips.

The Advertising Standards Bureau upheld a complaint about the ad, after receiving more than 40 submissions, stating it went too far in objectifying women. "It's meant to be a cheeky, over-the-top depiction but in the bureau's view it did cross the line," bureau chief executive Fiona Jolly said.

The 30-second ad, aired on free-to-air and pay television, prompted scathing remarks from viewers.

They included: "It is all about sex, got nothing to with domains, unless it's to start a porn site", and "This is overtly sexist and exploitative. It belittles women in the workforce and portrays them as sexual property".

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Video here

Britain outlaws open Wi-Fi!

We read:

"The U.K. government will not exempt universities, libraries, and small businesses providing open Wi-Fi services from its Digital Economy Bill copyright crackdown, according to official advice released earlier this week.

This would leave many organizations open to the same penalties for copyright infringement as individual subscribers, potentially including disconnection from the Internet, leading legal experts to say it will become impossible for small businesses and the like to offer Wi-Fi access.

Lilian Edwards, professor of Internet law at Sheffield University, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the scenario described by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in an explanatory document would effectively "outlaw open Wi-Fi for small businesses" and would leave libraries and universities in an uncertain position.

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What harm are you doing sitting in a coffee place and surfing the net? Can anybody tell me? This is classic over-regulation from Leftist nuts.