Otherwise, Everything's Okay

Despite mass starvation and appalling human rights abuses, North Korea has a physician-patient ratio that would make Obamacare proud:

North Korea's health system would be the envy of many developing countries because of the abundance of medical staff that it has available, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, speaking a day after returning from a 2-1/2 day visit to the reclusive country, said malnutrition was a problem in North Korea but she had not seen any obvious signs of it in the capital Pyongyang.

North Korea -- which does not allow its citizens to leave the country -- has no shortage of doctors and nurses, in contrast to other developing countries where skilled healthcare workers often emigrate, she said.

This allows North Korea to provide comprehensive healthcare, with one "household doctor" looking after every 130 families, said the head of the United Nations health agency, praising North Korea's immunization coverage and mother and child care.

Let's dissect that, one stupid point at a time:

North Korea's health system would be the envy of many developing countries because of the abundance of medical staff that it has available, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Alright. However (emphasis mine):

North Korea -- which does not allow its citizens to leave the country -- has no shortage of doctors and nurses, in contrast to other developing countries where skilled healthcare workers often emigrate, she said.

Maybe that is the reason why North Korea has a lot of staff kicking around.


The fate of defectors:

The North Korean authorities have executed three people, dispatched three other family members to a political prison camp and exiled an entire other family to rural Yangkang Province for their role in a failed defection attempt, according to a Daily NK source....

Early in July last year Jeong escaped from North Korea to Changbai in China along with his mother, wife and three- and seven-year old daughters. However, in August the family was caught by the Chinese police on their way to Neimenggu, where they planned to cross into Mongolia and from there travel to South Korea.

Their plan foiled, the family was immediately repatriated to North Korea by the Chinese security forces. The North Korean authorities subsequently threw Jeong and his wife into a jail run by the NSA in Yangkang Province, and sent his mother (63) and daughters home.

Following Jeong’s statement and confession, the NSA then arrested friend Song Gwang Cheol, who was responsible for helping Jeong and his family make their defection attempt. Later, after Song’s subsequent interrogation by the NSA, his family received an execution notice.

Jeong, Song and Jeong’s wife were all executed at an unknown location. “Since 1998, the Central Prosecutor Office has issued execution notices to the families of condemned persons,”

The Daily NK’s source explained. “They are killed behind closed doors, and bodies are never returned to the deceased’s families.

Second point:

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, speaking a day after returning from a 2-1/2 day visit to the reclusive country, said malnutrition was a problem in North Korea but she had not seen any obvious signs of it in the capital Pyongyang.

Kim Jong-Il notoriously keeps his flagship capital city in superficially pristine condition:

Only favoured citizens are allowed to reside in the capital of the communist state, and they normally have better access to food than other areas.

*

From our first moments in the country, it was obvious that some North Koreans receive special treatment. The train for Pyongyang had 15 cars, but only the three "international compartments" had fans to fight the sweltering heat. Well-dressed North Koreans took up the majority of seats in the compartment. The women wore silk blouses, nice skirts, and high heels, and the men were decked out in good T-shirts, which sometimes showed off their big bellies.

They were the only fat North Koreans that I saw on the trip. The people in the streets of Pyongyang and Kaesong were often downright skinny. In Pyongyang, I had my picture taken with two elementary-school boys in Kim Il-Sung Square, and I could clearly feel their ribs when I put my hands on their backs.

*

The eeriest puzzle in the Hermit Kingdom just north of here is not where it hides its nukes, but where it hides its disabled people.

The only time I was allowed into North Korea, years ago, I couldn't find anyone in a wheelchair, on crutches or missing a hand. North Koreans kept insisting there were no disabled people in Pyongyang, the clean and lovely capital of which North Korea is justifiably proud.

''Any handicapped people have voluntarily moved to other parts of our country,'' one official said. Right. The darker explanation is that North Korea systematically exiles mentally retarded and disabled people from the capital, so as not to mar its beauty.

What is it that Director-General Chan failed to notice?

Chan spent most of her brief visit in Pyongyang, and she said that from what she had seen there most people had the same height and weight as Asians in other countries, while there were no signs of the obesity emerging in some parts of Asia.

Ahem:

One study of North Korean refugees compared to South Koreans of the same age found that South Korean young men were 2.3 inches taller than their North Korean counterparts, while the gap among young women was 2.6 inches. Meanwhile, among non-refugee boys and girls living in both countries between the ages of one and a half and six and a half, a separate study found that the height gap was around three inches (varying slightly by age and gender); between six and a half and seven and a half, the height gap was 4.9 inches for girls and five inches for boys.

General-Director Chan notes there is no obesity in a country with mass starvation. Thank God somebody is being vigilant.



General-Director Chan neglected this:

Recently, infectious diseases have been spreading throughout North Korean regions with North Korean authorities in a state of emergency, sources informed.

A source revealed in a phone conversation with the DailyNK on the 15th “There are 4 different diseases spreading throughout North Korea. Scarlet fever, typhoid, paratyphoid and typhus fever” and…the number of deaths caused by the diseases had not yet been released.

What the article does mention is how, thanks to foreign aid, North Korea appears to be a model for developing nations to follow:

But Chan praised a joint project between North and South Korea to improve women's and children's health, which she said was promoting dialogue and trust between the two rivals.

Last month, the WHO said North Korea has reduced deaths from surgery and among women in childbirth under the South Korea-funded program.

Concerning maternal health and women's rights in North Korea:

Defectors report that many prisoners have died from torture, starvation, disease, exposure, or a combination of these causes. North Korean officials reportedly prohibited live births in prison, and forced abortions were performed. The regime controlled many aspects of citizens' lives, denying freedom of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and association. A number of repatriated North Koreans faced severe punishment upon their return, including possible execution. The regime also severely restricted freedom of movement and worker rights. There were widespread NGO reports of North Korean women and girls being trafficked in China.

The WHO's trip to North Korea is nothing more than self-serving window-dressing. The pretense of concern is laughable. The compliments are undeserved. Why would a country whose dictator controls every movement made by its slave population be enviable? How does a starving population even compare to a well-fed nation where diseases don't wipe out villages? If all one can comment on the number of physicians but not the problems they face due to tyranny, then what was the point of even going to North Korea?

I Don't Want to Do It! YOU Do It!

A call to the intellectual and intestinal fortitude of armchair critics everywhere:

Why should I "take the Islamic bull by the horns?"

Because people like Mark Steyn, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ezra Levant and armed forces everywhere have been doing the heavy lifting for a long time.

That's why.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

...or is it (emphasis mine)?

We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.

Has Kim Jong-Il (another socialist) made too much money?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son and the heir apparent Kim Jong-un is already said to be busy amassing his own slush fund. Despite North Korea's dire economic difficulties, Kim Jong-il himself is said to have stashed away between US$200-300 million every year to finance his lavish lifestyle and maintain the party elite's loyalty to him.

With the money, North Korea would be able to import between 400,000 to 600,000 tons of rice, which would be enough to cover half the country's food shortage of 1 million tons of rice per year.

Key departments within the Workers Party are pressuring agencies under their control to offer "loyalty funds" for the successor, a source familiar with North Korean affairs said. "A separate company has been established under the leadership of Kim Jong-un to secretly amass foreign currency.

" The source said Kim senior uses his slush fund to finance his expensive tastes, build monuments in his own honor and buy gifts for his loyal aides. Faced with increasing difficulties bolstering his slush funds under international sanctions, the Kim is said to have issued an ultimatum to his top officials in February, saying from now on he would judge their loyalty based on the amount they contribute to the fund.

The North is estimated to have imported more than $100 million worth of high-quality liquor, cars and other luxury goods in 2008. And also on the list are pet dogs, which the Kim family are said to adore. Kim buys dozens of German shepherds, Shih Tzus and other breeds from France and Switzerland every year. He also buys dog food, shampoo and other pet products as well as medical equipment for the dogs and has foreign veterinarians check their health.

Before nation founder Kim Il-sung's birthday on April 15 this year, Kim imported around 200 high-end cars from China at a cost of some $5 million. A North Korean source said secret funds are also used to finance nuclear missile development and other state projects Kim Jong-il orders personally.

Or does that count?

(hat tip: OFK)

It's Thursday and You Know What That Means!

What is it with the University of Ottawa and fear of free speech?

A Canadian human rights group is accusing the University of Ottawa of "spying" and attempting to stifle free speech after top university administrators considered preventing a well-known Burmese activist from speaking on campus.

Canadian Friends of Burma says it will ask the Ontario government to grant provincial ombudsman Andre Marin power to investigate the conduct of the University of Ottawa administrators in relation to the event.

More than a dozen internal emails, reaching as high as the university's former president and obtained through freedom of information requests by the Canadian Friends of Burma, show that the school was concerned about a speech by human rights activist Ka Hsa Wa at a December 2007 campus event discussing alleged human rights abuses by a French oil company in Burma....

The revelations contained in the emails come just a month after Francois Houle, the university's vice-president academic and provost, sent a letter to U.S. conservative pundit Ann Coulter urging her to use "restraint, respect and consideration" when speaking at the school during a Canadian tour.

The cascade of email exchanges related to the Burma event began on Nov. 30, 2007, at 7:49 a.m., when Bruce Feldthusen, then vice-president of university relations, sent his colleagues a copy of an advertisement for a speech by Burmese rights activist Ka Hsaw Wa scheduled to take place five days later at the university's Desmarais Building, named for Canadian billionaire Paul G. Desmarais.

The topic of the speech was alleged human rights abuses by French oil conglomerate Total SA during the construction of the Yadana natural gas pipeline through Burma in the 1990s.

Mr. Desmarais was a Total SA board member from 1999 to 2002. In 2006, he donated $15-million to the University of Ottawa, his alma mater.

The advertisement for the event read, "Burma Blood Profits: Was the Desmarais building paid for with cash tainted by the blood of innocent Burmese citizens?"

"I assume you received this? Nice of us to let them use the Desmarais building," Mr. Feldthusen wrote.

Four minutes later, Gilles Patry, the University of Ottawa's then president and vice-chancellor, replied: "Can't believe this. Might be a bit too late to do anything about it. We should monitor to see if they are exposing themselves with libellous comments."

Half an hour after Mr. Feldthusen's initial email, Victor Simon, the university's vice-president resources, responded to his two colleagues by saying the use of the school's facilities should be prohibited on grounds that the "program material includes allegations and accusations that may be libellous."

It's nice to see nothing gets in the way of free dialogue- not politics, not thuggery, not wealthy businessmen.

Speaking of silencing people:

Russia has published top-secret documents that prove Josef Stalin personally approved one of the Second World War's worst massacres, in which nearly 22,000 Polish officers were murdered.

Although the documents have been available to a few researchers since 1992, it is the first time the general public has been given access to the files concerning the 1940 Katyn massacre.

The sight of Stalin's signature on what amounts to a collective death warrant quells decades of debate on the massacre and gives the lie to claims by die-hard Stalinists their idol did not personally sanction the killings.

The disclosure is also a blow to Stalin's grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, who has tried to sue media that have said Stalin personally signed the death warrants of innocent people.

Only some may be greedy (hat tip ABC):

We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.

Khadr is screwing his own chances at trial:

Omar Khadr provoked a delay in the pre-trial hearings of his war crimes case Thursday after refusing to wear blinder goggles and sound-blocking earmuffs for transport to court -- saying the security accessories were intended to "humiliate" detainees.

U.S. army Col. Patrick Parrish, the military judge in the case, said Mr. Khadr needed to be informed of the consequences of exercising his right to stay away, after he discovered that court officials had failed to do so when the Canadian-born terror suspect was arraigned in 2007.

That discovery was made during a separate snafu in which microphones suddenly stopped working in the courtroom, one of two at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The drama unfolded as Dennis Edney, one of Mr. Khadr's Canadian lawyers, went public from Toronto with terms of a plea deal he says the prosecution had made to the defence team. According to Mr. Edney, the deal would involve Mr. Khadr serving a five-year sentence in a maximum-security prison in the United States in addition to the eight he has already spent in U.S. custody since his 2002 capture following a firefight in Afghanistan.

But Barry Coburn, Mr. Khadr's lead U.S. lawyer, has said the prosecution has offered "no firm" deal. He has also said his "understanding" is that prosecutors have invariably insisted any agreement would include a requirement for Mr. Khadr to admit in open court that he threw the hand grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during the 2002 firefight.

He'll be out of the country longer. How refreshing!

A new Oklahoma law that forces a woman seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of what the image shows is being called one of the most "extreme" anti-abortion measures passed by a U.S. state.

But supporters say it will provide needed support and information to women and ensure abortion doctors give them accurate information about their fetus.

Why not? It's not like this information will be passed on by people making money off of the pre-aborted.

Further:

Areader emailed recently to suggest I must be a religious fanatic, because I don't support abortion.

He explained that the vast majority of people who oppose abortion are fundamentalist religious wackos who believe there's a "spirit" in the fetus, and that's why they object to aborting it.

News to me. I told him I hadn't been to church in years, and religion had nothing to do with it. I just think it's wrong to take someone else's life without their consent. And I can't convince myself that the roundish tendency you'll notice among pregnant women results from something other than a life growing inside them. You don't have to be the Pope to believe a person's life is his own, and the rest of us should keep our hands off.

He wasn't buying. He'd convinced himself anyone opposed to abortion is a religious nut, and that's all there was to it.

I got the same sense from reading John Moore's Tuesday column on the recent Ontario climb-down on sex education ( "Hide your kids. The liberals are coming").

The Ontario government was planning to introduce a program that would expose grade school pupils to more explicit sexual references. Grade 1 students would be taught the correct names for body parts; Grade 3 students would learn about sexual identity and orientation, while kids in Grades 6 and 7 would deal with terms like "anal intercourse" and "vaginal lubrication."

The changes had been available on a government website for several months, but no one noticed until recently. When a sudden outcry resulted, Premier Dalton McGuinty quickly reversed course, embarrassing some of his Cabinet members who had been dutifully defending the changes. Now he's being attacked from the opposite direction, for caving in to fundamentalist nutbars. Because if you get a bit queasy at the notion of Grade 6 kids being tutored on masturbation, you must be a fundamentalist nutbar, right?

"Religious conservatives came out swinging," wrote Moore.

"The message was ... that the policy had been developed by activists with an agenda and with no consultation. None of this was true, but that doesn't matter in a political world that now runs not on a daily news cycle but on one that goes hour by hour.... The premier was defeated by talk radio, sound bites, Twitter and Facebook."

I'm a bit puzzled by that last line. Mr. Moore makes his living as a talk radio host, so why is he disparaging opinions formed from listening to talk radio? Is he saying that if we hear him on the radio we should disregard anything he has to say, but if he writes it in the paper, that makes it legit?

But mainly what bothers me is the notion that, once again, anyone who opposes programs favoured by liberals and their friends must be religious extremists bent on imposing fundamentalist views on the nation. The Canadian Taliban, in action. It's true that opposition to the sex program originated with some conservative religious groups that were first to notice it, but why assume every parent who subsequently expressed alarm must therefore be a card-carrying member of the lunatic fringe?

It's simple: putting down someone makes a self-loathing person feel better. Painting someone as an obnoxious sort obscures the matter at hand. It also obscures the fact that the insolent party has no substantive argument for or against something.

In conclusion, well.. nothing right now.

Interesting....

...that the same man who threw a tantrum against the police would now pen a scathing attack on Africans who participated freely in the slave trade:

For centuries, Europeans in Africa kept close to their military and trading posts on the coast. Exploration of the interior, home to the bulk of Africans sold into bondage at the height of the slave trade, came only during the colonial conquests, which is why Henry Morton Stanley’s pursuit of Dr. David Livingstone in 1871 made for such compelling press: he was going where no (white) man had gone before.

How did slaves make it to these coastal forts? The historians John Thornton and Linda Heywood of Boston University estimate that 90 percent of those shipped to the New World were enslaved by Africans and then sold to European traders. The sad truth is that without complex business partnerships between African elites and European traders and commercial agents, the slave trade to the New World would have been impossible, at least on the scale it occurred.

Advocates of reparations for the descendants of those slaves generally ignore this untidy problem of the significant role that Africans played in the trade, choosing to believe the romanticized version that our ancestors were all kidnapped unawares by evil white men, like Kunta Kinte was in “Roots.” The truth, however, is much more complex: slavery was a business, highly organized and lucrative for European buyers and African sellers alike.

The African role in the slave trade was fully understood and openly acknowledged by many African-Americans even before the Civil War. For Frederick Douglass, it was an argument against repatriation schemes for the freed slaves. “The savage chiefs of the western coasts of Africa, who for ages have been accustomed to selling their captives into bondage and pocketing the ready cash for them, will not more readily accept our moral and economical ideas than the slave traders of Maryland and Virginia,” he warned. “We are, therefore, less inclined to go to Africa to work against the slave trade than to stay here to work against it.”

To be sure, the African role in the slave trade was greatly reduced after 1807, when abolitionists, first in Britain and then, a year later, in the United States, succeeded in banning the importation of slaves. Meanwhile, slaves continued to be bought and sold within the United States, and slavery as an institution would not be abolished until 1865. But the culpability of American plantation owners neither erases nor supplants that of the African slavers. In recent years, some African leaders have become more comfortable discussing this complicated past than African-Americans tend to be.

This information is hardly new but certainly impedes the liberal idea that not only was the slave trade the fault of a single race but that greed and evil know no racial, cultural or national bounds.

I remember a long-ago discussion in university about slavery (in a literature class of all places!). It was determined by upper-middle class white females that white-on-black slavery was wrong but black-on-black slavery was acceptable. No one can express moral equivalence and cowardice like upper middle-class white people. In their privileged sphere of isolation, there is no hunger, no compulsion to do something against their will, no fear. When I heard this rationale for slavery, my jaw dropped. For what it was worth, I made some middling comment about the absolute evil of slavery but- in retrospect- what good did it do? No one seems to remember the indentured servitude of the Irish or care about slave labour of the Chinese, North Koreans, Vietnamese or Cubans today.

Everything is easy for the person who knows only comfort.

Divisions

(hat tip: SDA)


First:

"As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all. "

Then:

“This year, the stakes are higher than ever. It will be up to each of you to make sure that young people, African Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again...”

What? No Asians? No humans, period?


Some people see one who unites; others see an opportunist.

Come Watch How Brave I Am

An elderly man who cried out for help as he was being mugged on a Toronto subway train received no assistance from other commuters.

The 79-year-old victim, Yusuf Hizel, told City-TV that two thugs asked for change and when he told them he didn't have any they grabbed him and took his wallet out of his pocket and smashed his glasses.

He tried to activate the passenger-assistance alarm _ a yellow strip above the seats _ but could not reach it.

He said Monday night that the train was half full and despite screaming for help, no one came.

The attackers fled when the train pulled into an east-end station and his wallet, with the money gone, was later found on the street.

It fills one with a sense of pride in one's community, no?

Monday Post

Comedy Central heavily bleeped out Kyle, Santa Claus' and even Jesus' pleas for courage in the face of intimidation. The Simpsons would have stood up but...well... you know.

A sick pregnant woman is to be deported to her native Guinea.

I'm no naval expert but...

According to unnamed South Korean military sources, the cause of the "bubble jet", which is a fancy term for what can be more colloquially described as a really big explosion under water, was likely an attack: "North Korean submarines are all armed with heavy torpedoes with 200 kg (441 lb) warheads. It is the military intelligence's assessment that the North attacked with a heavy torpedo." (In an interesting but as-yet-unexplained wrinkle, news reports also state that this conclusion was reached jointly by the United States and South Korea very soon after the attack, but it was decided to raise the wreck and visually inspect it before announcing anything.)

Why not call it what it was: an explosion from an external source?

Ah, yes...

South Korea does not want a war with the North. It would probably win such a war (assuming North Korea didn't use atomic weapons, which is possible but for various technical reasons somewhat unlikely). But the South has no appetite for war that would run the risk of a massive artillery bombardment of Seoul. Even if the South emerged with a victory, it would suddenly find itself responsible for the feeding and re-education of millions of people who have lived their lives in a closed, dustpan society that is probably the closest real-life equivalent of George Orwell's nightmarish world of 1984.

Lousy deal for the South Koreans, no matter how you figure it. Get nuked, endure bombardment or get stuck with the Asian equivalent of East Germany to feed, house and clothe.

So they'll go with Door #4: Ignore the obvious, pretend they can't be sure it was North Korea and hope like hell that ignoring a wanton, unprovoked attack doesn't encourage the maniacs running North Korea to try something even more provocative. It's a logical policy, maybe even the right one. But the families of the 46 dead sailors probably won't see it that way.

That's a Comedy Central response, really.

Abortion won't be a part of the G8 family planning initiative (because, as we all know, the Third World seriously needs government intrusion in their lives):

Canada won't support funding for abortions in the developing world as part of a family planning initiative, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda confirmed Monday on the eve of a meeting with her G8 counterparts in Halifax.

Oda said Canada's contribution to the meeting could involve family planning and the use of contraceptive methods, but funding for abortions was a non-starter.

"The details remain to be determined," she told reporters Monday. "However, Canada's contribution will not include funding of abortions."

Her declaration means a debate over abortion could threaten a bid to find a consensus at the two-day meeting, which is expected to focus on improving the health of mothers and small children in poor countries.

Caroline Riseboro of World Vision Canada said the abortion issue amounts to a distraction from what should be the central issue for the G8: preventing 8.8 million child deaths a year from preventable conditions like diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia.

Obama's attempt to be an octopus hit a snag:

The most sweeping overhaul of U.S. banking rules since the Great Depression stumbled in the Senate on Monday as Republicans united to prevent action on the bill.

The vote gives Republicans leverage to extract more concessions from Democrats on a measure that could ban banks from several lucrative types of trading and subject them to greater oversight.

No one in their right mind should give a socialist the power to run a country into the ground.

Fighting Fire With Art

Apparently, there is a "Everybody Draw Mohammad Day". May 20th. Backlash, ect.

Partake if you wish.

But you leave Gumby out of it!

"South Park": Even Southier

(yes, yes- "southier" isn't a word. I know. Don't point that out.)


In Prague, the North Korean embassy took issue with the portrayal of Kim Jong-Il in "Team America: World Police":

Word from Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is that the North Korean embassy there is asking the government to ban the film, the creation of Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame.

The Czech Foreign Ministry, however, said the North Koreans had been rebuffed in their effort to undermine the Czech Republic's post-Communist era freedom. The film shows marionettes attempting to stop Kim Jong-Il from destroying cities around the globe.

A Czech newspaper, Lidove Noviny, reports that a North Korean diplomat complained that the film "harms the image of our country." He was even quoted as saying, "Such behavior is not part of our country's political culture."

Who defended North Korea in a sniveling manner? Who defended it period?


Did anyone come running to Sean Penn's defense? (WARNING: because it is Sean Penn, it contains self-serving statements and bad language. Viewer discretion is advised.)

October 6, 2004

To Trey Parker and Matt Stone,

I remember a cordial hello when you guys were beginning to be famous guys around Hollywood at some party. I remember several times getting a few giggles out of your humor. I remember not being bothered as you traded on my name among others to appear witty, above it all, and likeable to your crowd. I never mind being of service, in satire and silliness.

I do mind when anybody who doesn't have a child, doesn't have a child at war, or isn't or won't be in harm's way themselves, is encouraging that there's "no shame in not voting" "if you don't know what you're talking about" (Mr. Stone) without mentioning the shame of not knowing what your talking about, and encouraging people to know. You guys are talented young guys but alas, primarily young guys. It's all well to joke about me or whomever you choose. Not so well, to encourage irresponsibility that will ultimately lead to the disembowelment, mutilation, exploitation, and death of innocent people throughout the world. The vote matters to them. No one's ignorance, indcluding a couple of hip cross-dressers, is an excuse.

All best, and a sincere fuck you,

Sean Penn

If one could stomach that blather, where, pray, is the stomach to confront thugs who would threaten death? Has that intestinal fortitude gone the way of arresting anti-Ann Colter thugs?


If the Czechs could stand up to a tinpot dictatorship like North Korea, where, then is our courage when thugs and bullies of all stripes threaten death and destruction over free speech and expression.


If you still have your suppers despite Sean Penn's letter, see if you can read this:

King asked MacFarlane to react, who said he wasn't bothered by it and had no remorse.

"No, no. No way was I emotionally scarred. I was able to sleep well at night," MacFarlane said. "I don't think so. I don't consider myself a hater. I - I'm a fairly optimistic person."

However, he said he questioned the merits of Palin's response - suggesting it could be partially politically motivated and partially heart-felt.

"I actually do think, you know, as much as I disagree with just about everything that she stands for, I do think at the end of the day probably to some degree - I think it was part political, you know, partially politically motivated and part genuine," MacFarlane said. "She is a mom. She probably was ticked off on some level but what those percentages are I couldn't tell you."

My consolation is that his character was taken out by a mole a couple of episodes ago on "Flash Forward". We won't be seeing his smug face in a while.

South of "South Park"

Is "South Park" offensive? Sure. Often times, it's utterly disgusting. Sometimes, it does amuse one but the ratio of obscenity versus humour is great.


I've seen the first part of a two-part episode in which Tom Cruise demands to meet Mohammad who cannot be seen due to threats. Mohammad, in fact, never appears (there do exist a few images of Mohammad in ancient art). Everyone dances on egg shells for fear of violence, the near-Pavlovian response for a group in a state of perpetual anger. One must watch the episode in its entirety to catch all the points (if one can find an uncensored version somewhere).


That being said, the creators of "South Park" have finally issued a statement regarding the two-part episode in which Mohammad "appeared":

A Statement from Matt and Trey

In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it.

The honesty I see here is refreshing. As much as I think what is often seen on "South Park" is gross, Stone and Parker's statement reveals what is truly at hand: offense can be lobbed at some groups but not another.


The real reason is fear.


It is an insult to everyone's intelligence to even pretend that the reason why Islam and Muslims are spared from criticism or outright rudeness is due to respect. Ask the politically "upright" person what Muslims believe and why they shouldn't be offended. What is the response? Does one hear a Koranic extrapolation or mumblings?


Here are a couple "rationales":

And the problem is? They are are merely being respectful if Islamic beliefs. However, this site is completely anti-Muslim and most of the followers don't have the capacity to understand this. (*)

The poster in question completely misses the point that Comedy Central (which airs "South Park") bleeped out sections of the episode not because Islam is a religion deserving of respect (quite unlike the several other religions and groups previously offended) and consideration but because of fear.

When people pick on Christianity, it's "You'd never dare to pick on Islam that way! Only us poor Christians!". When people then do pick on Islam, it's "They only want to hide their hatred of Christianity.", apparently. Christian Persecution Complex(TM) in all it's glory.

They think freedom of religion means the freedom to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the privacy of one's own home.

Whatever it means, it certainly doesn't mean being allowed to tell other whom they're allowed to marry, to pick but one example.

I'm all for people worshiping whatever they like not just in the privacy of their homes, but in public as well (within sensible limits, of course). But freedom of religion does not mean that other people have to follow your rules. You can get my tolerance but not my respect. That is something that many Faithful do not seem to get. (*)

A disingenuous AND cowardly argument. The poster above would not explain how Christians incessantly play the victim card nor how they deal with things that bother them. The discourse above is actually quite typical. Instead of dealing with Islamofascists head-on, it is just easier to muddy the waters with an incomprehensible and indefensible attack on Christians and Christianity. Why? No Christian issues fatwas or throws fire-bombs over cartoons they've never seen. It's safe, unlike anything directed at Islam. It's easier to embrace the Stockholm Syndrome than it is to calm an easily riled group.


All the creators of "South Park" have proven with this episode is what we have been accustomed to for quite some time: press a button and watch the fireworks. When it would have been easier to turn off the television, one chooses to be offended, to live with rage and then act on it. It's nothing new.

Yet More News

South Korea may have been alerted to a North Korean suicide attack which destroyed the Cheonan in March:

Military intelligence officers warned earlier this year that North Korea was preparing a suicide submarine attack on a South Korean vessel in retaliation for an earlier defeat in a sea battle, a newspaper said Thursday.

There has been growing speculation that North Korea was behind the March 26 explosion that split the 1,200-ton Cheonan in two and sank it, killing at least 39 people and leaving seven missing.

Seoul has not directly blamed Pyongyang for the blast, and the North has denied involvement, but suspicion remains given the country's history of provocation and attacks on the South.

On Thursday, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported the Korea Defense Intelligence Command alerted the navy weeks ahead of the ship sinking that North Korea was preparing underwater suicide teams in mini-submarines to attack the South.

These "human torpedo" squads were said to involve small submarines navigated so close to the target that their torpedoes or explosives blow up both target and the attackers, or are timed to explode while the attackers escape from the vehicle, the report said.

The attack preparations were aimed at retaliating against the South over its defeat in a naval skirmish in November, the paper said. The site of the sinking is near where the rival Koreas fought three times since 1999, most recently a November clash that left one North Korean soldier dead and three others wounded....

Yonhap, citing an unidentified military source, said the assessment was submitted to the presidential Blue House shortly after the warship sank. The Blue House, however, denied it has received such an intelligence report.

In other news, two North Korean agents have been arrested in the attempted assassination of North Korean defector Hwang Jang-Yop:

South Korean authorities said Wednesday they had arrested two North Korean agents sent to South Korea was to assassinate Mr. Hwang, the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect. Hwang was a former top secretary of the North’s ruling Workers Party and architect of the North’s version of communist ideology....

The two were formally charged after giving themselves away under the intense questioning by South Korean security, a process that all defectors undergo after getting to the South. They had crossed the Tumen River border into China and gone to Yangji, a major city near the border. The made their way to South Korea via Thailand, a customary defectors’ route. There have been other reported attempts by the North to assassinate Hwang, including a similar case in 2008, when a North Korean defector was arrested, apparently in the hunt for Hwang.

Mr. Hwang is not the only one facing death threats:

A radical Muslim group has warned the creators of "South Park" that they could face violent retribution for depicting the prophet Mohammed in a bear suit during last week's episode.

The website RevolutionMuslim.com has since been taken down, but a cached version shows the message to "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The article's author, Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, said the men "outright insulted" the religious leader.

The posting showed a gruesome picture of Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was shot and stabbed to death in an Amsterdam street in 2004 by a fanatic angered by his film about Muslim women. The film was written by a Muslim woman who rejected the Prophet Mohammed as a guide for today's morality.

"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show," Al-Amrikee wrote. "This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."

This is actually old news. Where haven't we seen this kind of fanaticism?

Dalton McGunity blinked (emphasis mine):

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty backed off Thursday from a controversial plan to alter the province's sex-education curriculum after publicly funded Catholic schools said they wouldn't implement the changes.

Saying the strategy needed a "serious rethink," McGuinty told reporters at a London,Ont., news conference that the current curriculum would remain in place for now while the proposed plan, which would introduce lessons on parts of the body in Grade 1, lessons on homosexuality in Grade 3, and discussion of vaginal and anal intercourse in Grade 7 would be "put back on the shelf."

"It's become pretty obvious to us that we need to give this a serious rethink," McGuinty said.

Yeah, I'll say.

Before I'm clobbered with some accusations that I am antedeluvian, let me point out that this program isn't even remotely age-appropriate, will not be monitored or held to account, comes at a considerable cost to the taxpayer in a have-not province and also in a province where autistic children get next to no support. One would think more resources would go into making sure students excel in their studies, not point out how groovy homosexuality is.

Tiny silk brain implants could aid in the treatment of epilepsy and spinal cord injuries:

"These implants have the potential to maximize the contact between electrodes and brain tissue, while minimizing damage to the brain," said Dr. Walter Koroshetz of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, which helped pay for the study.

"They could provide a platform for a range of devices with applications in epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders."

For instance, such a sensitive electrode could detect a seizure as it starts and deliver pulses to counter it. Brain signals might be routed to prosthetics for people with spinal cord and other injuries.

Silk is also transparent, strong and flexible, and it is possible to control the rate at which it dissolves.

Now, to end on a high note, Iron Man actually makes a chick flick worth watching:

Earf Day

Another Earf Day.

It's not easy being "green" in a world where the co-founder of Earth Day was actually a murderer and one of the environment's chief gurus is actually a big hypocrite but try to do something interesting, anyway.

Some Stuff

An ajumma in Korea is a middle-aged woman with thick arms, baggy sweaters and plastic flip-flops whose work ethic and gun shows are legendary and whose tolerance for crap has waned dramatically over the years. Though this woman would be happy to serve you kimchi and rice, fry her once and God help you because everyone else in the vicinity would have cleared off. These ajummas now are fighting for their lives:

There is steel under those garish colors, for the ajumma is also legendary for her determination to pay any price or bear any burden for her family. Today, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo reports that North Korean ajummas are leading the popular resistance to Kim Jong Il’s Great Confiscation, a canceling and reissue of the national currency that wiped out the savings of millions of families and threatens to plunge North Korea back into famine just as winter begins. Then, North Koreas died passively by the millions. Collectively, the survival strategies of those who remained formed an underground market, operated largely by North Korea’s ajummas. And this time, the ajummas are fighting the suppression of their survival strategy by forming something of a North Korean tea party movement:

“The women are tough and defiant,” a source said, “and now they are angry. Markets are turning into places of protest against North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.” The women gather to accuse the authorities, defying threats of arrest. [Chosun Ilbo]

In the usually male-oriented North Korean society, it is now the ajummas who are life-lines. (hat tip: OFK)



Islamofascists threaten the creators of "South Park" and "academic" brownshirts threaten academic censure. Discuss.


I would gladly vote a dog for mayor. He can't be worse than humans.

The Week in Preview

Still, some planes are grounded by the volcano in Iceland.

Volcanic ash from last week's eruption in Iceland disrupted air travel within North America for the first time on Monday with Canada announcing the cancellation of a batch of domestic flights.

Nine morning flights out of Saint John's, Newfoundland were cancelled, airport spokeswoman Marie Manning told AFP.

"Last night a number of airlines decided... they would cancel the Monday morning flights because, even though it was low, there was a probability that the volcanic ash would reach Newfoundland," she said.

Apparently, someone working for CNN had no idea that Iceland even had volcanoes.

On Thursday's Rick's List, CNN's Rick Sanchez again demonstrated his lack of knowledge of basic science, again related to geology. As he covered the volcanic eruption in Iceland which has disrupted thousands of airplane flights across Europe, he commented that "when you think of a volcano, you think of Hawaii and long words like that. You don't think of Iceland. You think it's too cold to have a volcano there"

The Chosen One has no contingency plan for rogue state Iran and the nuclear disaster it will become (hat tip: ABC):

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran's steady progress toward nuclear capability, according to government officials familiar with the document....

Officials familiar with the memo’s contents would describe only portions dealing with strategy and policy, and not sections that apparently dealt with secret operations against Iran, or how to deal with Persian Gulf allies.

One senior official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the memo, described the document as “a wake-up call.” But White House officials dispute that view, insisting that for 15 months they had been conducting detailed planning for many possible outcomes regarding Iran's nuclear program.

In an interview on Friday, General Jones declined to speak about the memorandum. But he said: “On Iran, we are doing what we said we were going to do. The fact that we don’t announce publicly our entire strategy for the world to see doesn’t mean we don’t have a strategy that anticipates the full range of contingencies — we do.”

But in his memo, Mr. Gates wrote of a variety of concerns, including the absence of an effective strategy should Iran choose the course that many government and outside analysts consider likely: Iran could assemble all the major parts it needs for a nuclear weapon — fuel, designs and detonators — but stop just short of assembling a fully operational weapon.

I guess someone owes Mrs. Palin a rather enormous apology.


Karla Homolka can apply for a pardon and I fear she may get one. Fear.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says ex-convict Karla Homolka will be able to apply for a pardon this year.

It's the latest in a series of frustrations the prime minister said he has felt in the last few weeks about the weaknesses in Canada's justice system.

Harper said the news that murderer Clifford Olson is receiving government pension benefits in jail was compounded by revelations by The Canadian Press that hockey coach Graham James received a pardon for sexual-abuse convictions.

Homolka, who was convicted of manslaughter in the sex-slaying of two girls, is also eligible to apply for a pardon through a system that grants 99 per cent of applicants their wishes, Harper noted.

"For many years, the vast majority of Canadians have found this deeply offensive. Now, they find it unacceptable," Harper told a victims' rights conference.

"Yet, for now, the law remains. And the law will allow Karla Homolka to apply for a pardon this year."

As a result, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he has been asked to table legislation to tighten the pardon system by this fall at the latest.

Earf Day occurs some time this week.

Saint George's feast day may sink into irrelevance due to stupidity:

The English are the least patriotic people in Europe, a St George's Day poll found today.

Their fear of being smeared as racist is greater than their enthusiasm for expressing their love of their country, it found.

Only one in ten would happily fly the cross of St George to celebrate their national saint's day...

The new survey showed that six per cent of English people are scared to show the flag and around 18 per cent are worried that if they do they will be instructed by officialdom to take it down. Only a third are aware that 23 April is St George's Day and four out of 10 have no idea why he is England's patron saint...

This is the same country that banned Irish as a language, that allowed the Amritsar Massacre and killed Saint Thomas More. How the mighty have run away with their tail between their legs.

Speaking of massacre:

Surrey city council will review if annual Vaisakhi celebrations comply with city policy after a controversial political float depicting Sikh “martyrs” unexpectedly showed up in Saturday’s parade.

The float flies flags of Khalistan, a proposed-nation state encompassing the Punjabi region of India, and displays pictures of Sikh martyrs, some of whom are members of groups Canada considers terrorist organizations.

It doesn't bother Premier Gordon Campbell that much.

See here.

Go to hell, Omar Khadr.


The photo to the right is from "The Enterprise Incident" which was based on the Pueblo Incident in which the USS Pueblo was boarded by the North Koreans in 1968.

Who said art doesn't resemble life?

Friday Post

The evening was Palin-rrific!

As she swept into Hamilton last night with her entourage and adoring fans and lonely protesters and press pack, it was abundantly clear that the former Alaska governor and one-time Republican vice-presidential candidate has transcended politics to become the ultimate American powerhouse: a full-fledged celebrity.

Yes, they are lonely.

And it is that status, more than anything, that drew 900 posh people to Carmen's Banquet Centre to hear Palin speak for more than 45 minutes about her family. From her bootlegger grandfathers in Saskatchewan and Alberta, to the five children we know so much about.

The best ones are Canadian in some way. :)

The $200-a-ticket event raised money for Charity of Hope, a local group supporting such charities as Good Shepherd Youth Services and McMaster Children's Hospital.

Of course.

Palin's tightly stage-managed appearance left no room for spontaneity. Or going rogue.

D'oh. I wanted to hear some snark.

She arrived at Carmen's at about 4:30 p.m., likely not even noticing the two lowly protesters who were shooed a half-block away by police. One brought a tambourine, a bongo and a case of lemonade to share with the crowd he was expecting.

The love-nuisance ratio here is quite telling, is it not?

"There should be a lot more people here," he lamented, as the ink on his quickly-made "Honk 4 Our Healthcare" sign dried.

Our healthcare sucks and so do your expectations. Moving on.

Most every aspect of her life is produced and played out before an audience, it seems. Ironic for a woman who has built her platform and image on being genuine and still manages to come across as such. She is watched and discussed and loved and hated but never ignored.

I'm not sure how irony fits in. However, she is magnetic. This is Sarah Palin's power. Whether she rises to the most powerful office in the US or becomes a trusted voice upon which political ambitions lie, she is the one with the reins in her hands. This frightens those who have placed their trust into lesser beings.

The article goes into the more superficial fashion and starlet angles which I don't think apply to Mrs. Palin but only serve to undermine the kind of political whip she wields. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.

If only Miss Coulter's venture into Canada had been fraught with less- how shall we say?- stupid people trying to shut her up because they are insecure leftists. Okay, that's not pithy or eloquent but you get the gist of it.

Moving on....


Microsoft Corp. is facing a public relations nightmare in the wake of new allegations that teenage workers at a Chinese manufacturing plant which produces computer mice and other products for the software giant was subjecting its employees to inhumane working conditions while paying them extremely low wages.


Not surprised. Remember- the Chinese are cheap labour, unless they are members of the communist party. Then they are the slave-drivers.


More from the article:

According to a new report from the National Labor Committee -- an American workers' advocacy group based in Pittsburgh, PA -- workers at the KYE Factory in Dongguan, China have been working 68 workweeks while being paid as little as 65 cents per hour -- with 13 cents being deducted for factory food -- while building Microsoft computer mice, including the company's Life Cam VX-7000, its Wireless Notebook Laster Mouse 6000 and its "Basic Optical Mouse."

The report alleges that KYE recruits hundreds of "work study students" -- mostly girls -- between the ages of 16 and 17 year old. The women are reportedly forced to work 15-hour shifts, six or seven days a week, with a typical shift running from 7:45 a.m. to 10:55 p.m. The report says that in 2007 and 2008, women as young as 14 worked in the factory.

The National Labor Committee has also posted a series of photographs which show the workers of the KYE Factory asleep at their workstations during breaks.

According to the report, the female workers are sexually harrassed by the security guards and are prohibited from "talking, listening to music or using the bathroom during working hours. As punishment, worker who make mistakes are made to clean the bathrooms."

"The workers have no rights, as every single labor law in China is violated," the report states.

"Microsoft's and other companies' codes of conduct have zero impact."

That is the nature of our dealings with China and the extent to which some people will go to make some money. Don't get me wrong- making money is fine, only when it's done fairly.

Militant groups train children to kill "infidels":

"Do you know who I will kill with this gun?" a little boy says into the video camera, waving his toy pistol.

"Who will you kill with this gun?" the cameraman asks.

"The infidels."

The scene appears in a new video by the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab that shows the Somali militant group indoctrinating children, some of whom appear to be toddlers.

Among those seen in the 28-minute video urging the children to fight and become "martyrs" is a former Toronto resident, Omar Hammami, alias Abu Mansour the American.

The video, distributed on the Internet this week by Al-Shabab's propaganda arm, shows a "children's fair" hosted by Al-Shabab leaders. The boys and girls, identified as the children of "martyrs," are given balloons and snacks and rewarded with toy guns for correctly identifying the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, from a picture.

In Indonesia, Muslim groups rule in favour of underage marriages.

As one can see, there are some extremely large things to worry about other than observing political correctness.

Viola Desmond

In 1946, Viola Desmond, a black Canadian, purchased a movie ticket for a segregated movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She elected to sit not in the balcony section reserved for black but in the lower section reserved for whites. She was removed from the theatre, charged (of all things, failure to not pay a one cent tax on the ticket! How Canadian!) and fined (she fought the court costs).


Now, a great wrong has been righted. Miss Desmond has been officially pardoned.

The government of Nova Scotia apologized and granted a special pardon Thursday to the late Viola Desmond, a black woman jailed in 1946 for sitting in a whites-only section of a segregated movie theatre. Premier Darrell Dexter said he is sorry to Desmond's family and all black Nova Scotians for the racism she was subjected to in an incident he called unjust.

Desmond, then 32, was on her way to Sydney, N.S., on Nov. 8, 1946, to sell imported beauty products when her car broke down.

She went to the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S., while it was being repaired. But she was forcibly removed from the theatre by police, jailed and fined.

"The arrest, detainment and conviction of Viola Desmond is an example in our history where the law was used to perpetrate racism and racial segregation," Dexter said.

What strikes me as touching about this special pardon is that it was deserved. In the case of Miss Desmond, a working Canadian was brusquely and unfairly treated because of the colour of her skin. It is a true case of human dignity triumphing over unfairness, very much unlike the mind-numbingly political correctness that pockmarks the social landscape of today.

Thursday Post

In what will no doubt be decried as an effort to imfringe upon the freedom of women everywhere, Conservative backbencher Rod Bruinooge has introduced a private member's bill to make it illegal to coerce a woman into having an abortion. It won't get very far as PM Harper will not back it. Thanks for the guts, Stephen.


Nearly half of all court interpreters fail tests determining their efficiency as interpreters. Anything to slow the malfunctioning machine of justice.


Sarah Palin is in Hamilton TONIGHT! (More as it develops)


Joyce Arthur makes a fool of herself here.

Abortion is being scapegoated here. It's not abortion that leads to the problem of skewed sex ratios in China, India or even Canada. It's the low status of women, as well as the Indian dowry practice, and the Chinese custom of passing the family line through the son.

Instead of trying to ban sex-selection abortion, governments should focus on education campaigns to spark a cultural shift, introduce economic incentives to have daughters and abolish discriminatory laws and policies that lead families to favour boys over girls.

Read the rest and have a laugh. It's high time you did something for you.

A sizing up of Christopher Hitchens.

For someone who hates the Catholic Church as much as Hitchens does, it should be sufficient just to tell the truth about the wicked things done and the necessary reforms that were too long in coming. He could consult a number of reports on the matter, some of them commissioned by the Church, others by law enforcement, still others by government inquiries. It is not really that hard to understand how the shape of this is different today than in 1975. Can it be that Hitchens and his ilk, riveted by this issue for years, still don't know the basics of Church law on priestly discipline?

Possibly.

A Point

A letter from the National Post:

Re: Those Favouring Abortion Can't Have It Both Ways, letter to the editor, April 13.

Letter-writer Paul Ranalli argues that it is inconsistent for pro-abortionists to condemn abortion following sex selection but not abortion itself.

There is no inconsistency. Pro-choice supporters claim that abortion itself is not immoral because it is a woman's right; abortion following sex selection is immoral because it is sexist.

I will add that the equation of abortion with genocide is inflammatory and an insult to the victims of true genocide.

If I may, I believe Dr. Ranalli is completely correct in pointing out the logical disparity between the pro-abortion view that the unborn baby's humanity is nonexistent and can therefore be aborted at will and the shock at aborting females.

If the "fetus" not a human being or any legally recognised individual but a mere bit of flesh, it has no gender, nullifying the notion that ascertaining its gender and killing her is wrong.

Sex selection abortions raise quite the quandary for pro-abortionists. They must save face on THREE different fronts. They cannot recognise the humanity of an unborn child. They cannot outrightly accept sex selection abortions or they will alienate the rest of the female population they wish to persuade. They also cannot condemn the cultural practice of choosing boys over girls lest they be accused of racism. It is the rock/hard place/pile of thorns position they have sandwiched themselves into.

Is abortion genocide? An identifiable group is being targeted and eliminated with legal approval. I would say yes, it is.

What This Guy Said

Sometimes the nail was struck before you could reach for the hammer:

I

I don’t know what the Pope did or didn’t do – that’s for the police to deal with, along with the Catholic Church and even God Himself. The chips will fall where they may. But I know what Roman Polanski did, because he confessed to it and then ran away. And no matter how wonderful and transcendent an artist he is supposed to be – I think he’s generally a hack – the same standard applies to him that applies to everyone else.

Rape a child, go to jail.

No matter who you are, and no matter how many Hollywood celebrities think a child is just acceptable collateral damage, a fair price to pay for the chance to bask in the glow of the artist’s unique vision.

Now, this dreadfully unprogressive, black-and-white, unnuanced, single standard philosophy goes against everything the Hollywoodids and their supplicants like Wells believe. But for too long we’ve tolerated too many double standards – not just in Hollywood but throughout the progressive realm. And it must end. It’s time to call people like Jeffrey Wells and the rest of the excuse machine on those double standards. Relentlessly.

And there's more (emphasis mine):

Certainly, the spectacle of the doddering Dawkins and the perpetually pickled Hitchens (who is not a dumb guy, is a tireless advocate against dictators and thugs, and really ought to know better) trying to cuff and stuff the pontiff would be amusing – especially watching the Pope’s unforgiving security team go to town upon them. Advantage Hitchens – he’d be unlikely to feel a thing.

Certainly Dawkins could put up a fight using one of his tedious anti-deity diatribes as a weapon. You haven’t been bored until you’ve been militant atheist bored – what do people at atheist organizations talk about after the first five seconds in which they all agree there’s no God? And Hitchens could fall over on the guards – and the dude’s probably got a weight edge on the security team. But in the end, the conclusion is kind of forgone – Pope Benedict will jet back to Rome and the atheists will pat themselves on their collective backs, assuming the efficient Swiss Guards somehow failed to break their arms.

That is all.

Monday Evening Quarterback

Over the week-end the long suffering nation of Poland was dealt another blow when its president, his wife and ninety-five other people were killed in a plane crash.

Putin has put himself in charge of the investigation which makes me wish the NTSB was watching over his shoulder.

What is extremely troubling is that this accident occurred before a joint commemoration of the Katyn forest massacre in which 4,000 Polish intelligentsia were killed on Stalin's orders. The tragedy of the crash will overshadow another tragedy engineered by the Soviets.

Speaking of Russians, is this cartoon of Dmitri Medvedev too funny or shockingly accurate? Discuss. (hat tip: LR)

Oh please! Talk about self-deification and an incredibly inflated sense of self-importance! Reining atheists Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins would like to arrest the Pope when he visits the United Kingdom.

Two Canadian medical experts are calling for new guidelines that would bar doctors from telling parents the sex of their fetus until late in a pregnancy, calling it a subtle way to curb the practice of sex selection.

Emotional fatigue, backlash against multiculturalism or a rise against selfishness? Discuss.

Mark Steyn proves once more why he should be given a microphone:

Well, Ann Coulter is no longer in Canada, but 30 million Canadians are. So, for the sake of argument, let us take as read the frankly rather boring observation of the northern punditocracy that the whole brouhaha worked to her advantage, and consider instead whether the Canada on display during her 96-hour layover actually works to Canadians’ advantage. Which was the claim advanced by the eminent Canadian “feminist” Susan Cole appearing on U.S. TV to support the protesters’ shutdown of Miss Coulter’s Ottawa speech:

“We don’t have a First Amendment, we don’t have a religion of free speech,” she explained patiently. “Students sign off on all kinds of agreements as to how they’ll behave on campus, in order to respect diversity, equity, all of the values that Canadians really care about. Those are the things that drive our political culture. Not freedoms, not rugged individualism, not free speech. It’s different, and for us, it works.”

Does it? You rarely hear it put quite that bluntly—“Freedoms”? Ha! Who needs ’em?—but there was a lot of similarly self-regarding blather in Coulter Week euphemizing a stultifying, enforced conformism as “respect” and “diversity” and whatnot. “I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in mind,” wrote François Houle, the provost of the University of Ottawa, addressing Miss Coulter in the smug, condescending, preening tone that comes so naturally to your taxpayer-funded, tenured mediocrity. “There is a strong tradition in Canada, including at this university, of restraint, respect and consideration in expressing even provocative and controversial opinions and urge you [sic] to respect that Canadian tradition.”

Amen.

Perhaps Miss Cole- who, I might add, must be speaking for herself as no one else asked her to speak for them- should level her spite against rugged individualists like Louis Riel and, indeed, anyone who has served in the armed forces for rugged individualism.

Again (emphasis mine):

Because the speakers hosted in recent seasons seem to be the usual parade of dreary publicly funded identity-group ward-heelers living high off the hog of diversity. Anyone else has a tougher time wiggling through. The howling gang of rent-a-leftists that greeted Miss Coulter at Ottawa is the natural product of this shrivelled, desiccated environment. I don’t suppose M. Houle gave his email much thought, other than that it would impress the many colleagues to whom he copied it: what a man! Speaking truth to power blond! But most of the diversity-peddling faculty are old enough to have some residual acquaintanceship with the inheritance they affect to revile. Whatever bollocks they spout in class, they have no wish to live anywhere other than an advanced Western society: for one thing, it’s the only place you can make a living selling fatuous pap about diversity; in that and many other ways, multiculturalism is a unicultural phenomenon. In some deep unacknowledged sense, they understand they’re engaged in a pantomime.

Damn! Aren't you glad not to be M. Francois A. Houle right now?

To close this post, Smurfs- are they charming blue people or kinder Andorians? Discuss.