Tragedies That Could Have Been Avoided

It would seem that this summer has been quite deadly for some.

Do not mistake my opening line. I do not mean to be sanguine about these tragedies. I mean that there has been a spate of them and I fear that we have not heard the last of such killings.

Honour killings are dirty words in Canada. Indeed, you will see those words mentioned as little as possible (if at all) in the case of four women drowned to death in Kingston and a woman and her daughters killed in Ganonoque. The tendency is to see these deaths as accidental or as results of stupidity or bad behaviour (read the comments of the CBC story). If it is concluded that these were honour killings, then people would have to accept that the Canadian legal system is a tremendous failure, that Western feminists are as good as silent partners in these atrocious acts given their silence and that multiculturalism- the puffy, feel-good sentiment enshrined as a virtue of the left- is a grand failure.

Therein lies the dilemma. How can anything Canadian be bad? After all, Michael Moore loves us. No. Michael Moore loves the idea of us. He hasn't been to some of the choicest bits of the country and probably never will.

But I digress.

How effective is the Canadian legal system? Not very.

The Department of Justice website has some well-explained definitions but reality contradicts these definitions at every turn.

Civil law and common law are very old legal traditions but the addition of aboriginal law means that there are, off the bat, TWO different sets of law for Canadian citizens. This is contradiction one.

Further:

A person accused of a crime may not always be arrested. The accused may
simply receive a “summons” after a charge has been laid before the court. A
summons is an order to appear in court at a certain time to answer to the
charge.

Why would someone who has the presence of mind to commit a crime appear when he is supposed to? Chances are there is no honour among thieves. Cases in point.

A criminal trial is a particularly serious matter because liberty, as
well as the stigma of a criminal conviction, is at stake for the accused.

Donald Marshall. David Milgaard.

However, the judge does not always have to convict, even if the accused
person has pled guilty or been found guilty. The judge may give an offender an
absolute or conditional discharge. Under a conditional discharge, the offender
must obey conditions imposed by the judge or face a more severe sentence. An
offender who is given a discharge will not get a criminal record for the
offence.

I find this particularly troubling. How does one expect a sex offender to abide by the honour system? This is an impractical and, I dare say, a cruel infliction on society at large.

In restorative justice programs, the victim of the crime, the offender and,
ideally, members of the community voluntarily participate in discussions. The
goal is to restore the relationship, fix the damage that has been done, and
prevent further crimes from occurring.

Christopher Pauchay.

Special considerations come into play when young people commit acts that are
considered criminal. This is why Parliament passed the Youth Criminal Justice
Act in 2003. It applies to young people aged 12 to 17 years, inclusive. The Act
recognizes that young persons must be held accountable for criminal acts,
although they need not always be held accountable in the same manner or to the
same extent as adults. It is in society’s interest to ensure that as many young
offenders as possible are rehabilitated and become productive members of
society.

Kelly Ellard.

What of judicial accountability? Supreme Court justices are hand picked by the prime minister and are often "activist". This eliminates the role of the citizen to nominate a suitable candidate for the court and it also puts the power of reform in the hands of a very few. There is also a shocking lack of shame felt when the system fails others. The case of Shirley Turner, the doctor who shot Andrew Bagby, fled to Canada where she was free on bail, and ultimately killed herself and her son, is a sickening example.

Given these glaring examples of judicial flim-flammery, is it not reasonable to expect that the accused in these cases will be treated as lightly as possible, maybe even released?

So far, the only person to be convicted of an honour killing in Canada is Hasibullah Sadiqi who killed his sister and her boyfriend. The killings of Aqsa Pervez, the four women in Kingston and the three people in Ganonque will prove further litmus tests to our legal and social tolerance of a cultural norm in some countries.

Why is it a norm and why is it tolerated? Honour killings stem from the feeling of shame a male family member feels over a female relative's behaviour. This is largely overlooked in Western societies where shame and guilt are dealt with differently. The wounding, humiliation and ultimate cessation of life are enough to stop these women from repeating allegedly offensive actions. Why honour killings and maimings seem like a rational response to the embarrassing stimuli is still a mystery to me.

One writer has a theory as to why honour killings occur:

Traditionally-oriented immigrants confront many challenges adapting to life
in the secular West. Language difficulties, residential segregation, limited job
opportunities and poverty often make immigrants, especially young people, feel
like losers.

I'm sorry. Could he repeat that? I had something crazy in my eye. Does he mean to say that no other immigrant has struggled to learn a language, go to school, get a job, raise their kids and adapt to a new life? It's this kind of deflection that will spin such arguments and their defenders on their heads. Yes, it is difficult to adapt to a new life and yes, we should help new immigrants adapt and not be apologetic for it. Why should we feel bad about teaching new immigrants English (for example)? Do they not have the right to engage in political discourse, watch Fringe or get medical treatment? After all, if we cannot explain the glories of Christmas, how can they tell us of the delights of Diwali or the nature of Tanabata? Isn't that what multiculturalism is all about?

Or is it about feeling? If we feel multicultural, we don't necessarily have to learn a language or make aloo gobi because we feel. And no one will ever accuse us being racist, the big bugaboo that squashes topics like this. But multiculturalism- as it exists in Canada- is a form of soft-serve racism. There is no expectation of a new immigrant to learn the language or to take part in society, whether legally, politically, socially or culturally. Why should we make new immigrants do so? Why should we expect they can? Well- why shouldn't we expect they can? Immigrants aren't stupid and we shouldn't treat them that way. We do do that if we don't make them adapt.

And then we have the topic of culture. "There is a recognition that all cultures are equal and should be respected. This is a worthy goal. "

Oh?

All cultures aren't equal, the same, praiseworthy or damnable. This isn't to say one race or culture is over all. Such things are inflammatory and plain untrue. The recognition, however, of cultures as being "equal" ignores the need for good judgment and a moral compass, and more often than not indicates a shocking lack of understanding of a particular culture. In Japan, women over twenty-five were called "Christmas cakes" because they are past twenty-five years old and are considered useless. Hardly an enlightened point-of-view in some Western circles. Is it acceptable (remember- this is Japan we're talking about)? Koreans operate on a strict custom of honour, age and marital status. I've had my younger students determine family/friend titles (yes- there are over sixty family titles) amongst themselves down to months and days. Do we consider such a custom ridiculous (HINT: Koreans are Asian so be careful with what you say)?

And this cowardice to critique to one's face a cultural or moral failing (railings against kimchi were considered acceptable because food is a less offensive topic but still quite telling of one's inability to be an adult about another culture) can always find a "redemptive" outlet by shredding Western (read: white Christian) cultures as irrelevant, cruel, irredeemable and intolerant. It is true that over the centuries rampages, murders, theft and other acts of cruelty were perpetrated by those who claimed to represent the best and brightest one civilisation had to offer. Nothing can excuse this, but nothing can ignore what Western civilisation has given the world, either. Can ardent multiculturalists name famous Korean or Japanese poets, leaders or doctors off the top of their heads? Maybe not, but then again they don't have to because multiculturalism is about feeling. How about notable black people? Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver, Shelby Steele- people whose convictions and hard work could shine because they lived in AMERICA, in a society where individual achievement can be realised and celebrated, unlike their ancestors' home where violence, unfortunately, is commonplace. One could wax on this topic forever but the gist is that individuals thrive in an arena where their talents can be nourished and where basic morality governs the actions of men. How moral is it when the men of one culture stifle their women through threats, acid, rape and murder? Will any Tchiakovskies or Salks emerge from this group? Not unless there is great change.

So- where are the feminists? Why aren't they lifting off of their perches of entitlement and speaking out against the disgusting torments Asian and Islamic women must endure? I have yet to hear from them. I doubt any substantial response will be given. Feminists would have to face the demons of their own elitism, their cowardice and the demands they make for themselves. I suspect they presume women who are victims of "honour abuse" can fend for themselves, if not that judgment would be "racist". Moral compasses are racist, apparently.

I don't believe all Canadians are cruel or cowardly. There are good people who recognise a problem when they see it. All that needs to be done is to fix it.

Get out the hammer of justice.

No More Love

(sigh)

President Obama is experiencing a popularity dearth, even lower than (gasp!) George W. Bush.

Could the public be tired of empty promises, of appeasement to dictators who detain protesters, of pushing for an unworkable and extremely expensive health-care plan and completely "misreading" the dire economic situation the country finds itself in, of not being accountable (let the czars take the hits if need be), of spending far too much money, of lying to the Pope and of aiding and abetting a fawning media to coddle his self-important, pretentious ego?

Maybe. Maybe.

A Modern Day Death Camp

When Allied soldiers liberated concentration camps all over Europe, they were horrified.

People should be equally horrified over Camp 15, one of the more "famous" death camps found in North Korea. The interactive map displays where people are forced to work, where they sleep and where public executions are held.

Where is the horror over this?

Narcissist-in-Chief

Oh dear....

It just gets worse.

An American president who has "the blood of Africa within me" praised and scolded the continent of his ancestors Saturday, asserting forces of tyranny and corruption
must yield if Africa is to achieve its promise.

"The blood of Africa in me". That's what Mr. President said. A man whose African father divorced his wealthy, white, teen-aged mother has the entirety of a continent coursing through his veins. The arrogance!

And who enables this arrogance? Yahoo News, of course, with the headline: Son of Africa, Obama scolds forces of tyranny and corruption holding back the continent

The man loves himself and the press loves him for it. Is there no shame? Not in the newsroom and not in Africa where Obama's impoverished family live.

Just read the article. It's drenched with self-serving platitudes and half-baked imagery.

From a true African: a post about Dambisa Moyo.

Friday Post

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the attention to his alleged "wafer pocketing" a "low point in journalism". And right he is, too. As was explained in the previous post, Prime Minister Harper should not have received Holy Communion but neither should the previous prime ministers. As this is a theological matter, it begs the question: why does the anti-Catholic CBC care? Their treatment of Catholicism may not be as rank as the ignoramuses who treat the Eucharist as a banal joke and then proceed to mock it and Catholics in general, I doubt the CBC's treatment of this is anything other than political opportunism.

Pope Benedict recently visited Japan and is now with President Obama. More later.

Charles Krauthammer sees right through everything. Russia will never curtail its weapons build-up nor will it tolerate other nations' defensive programs. And who will be round with the Russians?

Retiring Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg is free to admit that abortion was permitted to remove "population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of..." That's pretty much the reason (or one of them) for abortion. One might as well come clean about it. It's not like anyone cares about racism, elitism or the rise of materialism these days.

This is what sick looks like: an abortion party. In the preceding article we read a self-pitying liberal grudgingly attend a friend's fund-raising abortion party. Yes. A dance party with pastries and even a small child in attendance to raise money for an abortion because the "male" cannot be involved in any way, shape or form. Follow the contradictions as the writer and the written feel them. Then read the comments (even the adjoining articles, all of which are very telling about contemporary moral decrepitude). Because nothing has any value (not even one's own comfort), people can mire themselves in moral filth and not even realise it. Some people must truly not have souls. No one with a soul can live that way.

Blinked

Because the death of a disgraced performer with the face of a Disney character gone horribly wrong, the deaths of four Canadian soldiers- Master-Corporal Pat Audet, Corporal Martin Joannette and Corporal Nick Bulger (Master Cpl. Charles-Philippe Michaud died of his wounds)-went (with the exception of family and friends) largely unnoticed. There is no dignity in death, as there wasn't in life. Four men who gave their lives so that the Afghan people might have some normalcy in theirs disappeared in the mire of a media circus over a "man" who in his later years was noteworthy only for his extremely bizarre behaviour. When individuals of note disappear in the shadow of a celebrity, we know we've gone over the deep end. Whom should we would mourn: thoughtful, giving people people or a freakish, washed-up singer? One would think the answer was simple.

Iran, too, has been tossed under the train. An emergent revolution, another Tienanmen, has become forgotten because some chalky guy died. Where did the press go? Where are the stories of Iranians being beaten or arrested? Iran could be on the cusp of becoming a completely different state (though, not for some time, until fundamentalism completely disappears) but now such things are no longer newsworthy. The force the media had to turn these events into political realities has dissipated. Back to tyranny for the Iranians, I suppose.

The Russians have tried to convince the US that they were truly good people who longed for world peace. They've finally found a sucker: Obama. Russia, which backed (and still backs) North Korea and Iran, which has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, which held eastern Europe hostage during the winter, which invaded Georgia last year and which still kills or imprisons journalists is now trustworthy and friendly. I wish Obama would tattoo I'M A MORON on his forehead. It would make things easier.

While the debate in Iran has died down, the crisis in Honduras has not. Why no one questioned Zelaya's actions or the immediate response from socialist wags still troubles me.

There are rumours that Kim Jong-Il will soon face his just desserts. What the next leader has in store for the Korean Peninsula is a mystery.

And finally, Governor Sarah Palin's plans to sue for defamation is scoffed at by various "pundits" but does it have merit? This isn't the case of a human rights commission attacking an editor for publishing cartoons but libel. Is Governor Palin under investigation by the FBI? No. Should so-called journalists report that as true, as they have done with so many other things? No. If she used the money to run for office, I would laugh my head off. So, mongrel bloggers and media, keep printing the rubbish you do. It might benefit someone someday, and not who you may think.

What Harper Did

If Prime Minister Stephen Harper did pocket the Eucharist after receiving it, was he correct in doing so? Absolutely not.

What is the Eucharist?

The Holy Eucharist is the most important of the seven sacraments because, in this and in no other sacrament, we receive the very body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Innumerable, precious graces come to us through the reception of Holy Communion.

If one reads the accounts of the Last Supper in the Gospels, Jesus took bread and wine and declared it His Body and Blood. It is from this that Catholics celebrate the Eucharist. It is through transubstantiation that flour wafers and wine are made in Christ's Body and Blood. After this "process", one must consume the Body of Christ, not misplace it.

Who can receive Communion and under what conditions?

The Church sets out specific guidelines regarding how we should prepare ourselves to receive the Lord’s body and blood in Communion. To receive Communion worthily, you must be in a state of grace, have made a good confession since your last mortal sin, believe in transubstantiation, observe the Eucharistic fast, and, finally, not be under an ecclesiastical censure such as excommunication.

"Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Communion. Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law. . . . "

Another reason that many non-Catholics may not ordinarily receive Communion is for their own protection, since many reject the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Scripture warns that it is very dangerous for one not believing in the Real Presence to receive Communion: "For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died" (1 Cor. 11:29–30).

These are the conditions, which Harper does not meet. He is not a Catholic, no doubt does not believe in transubstantiation, is not in a state of grace, nor (as it would seem) does he now how to partake in this sacrament.

Neither did the prime ministers before him.

Blink And You Missed It

While the world mourned for some chalk-faced goon, three individuals of great note passed away, a lame duck president completely missed the several clues that Russia is hardly the centre of good will and freedom, the theocratic dictatorship in Iran continued its violent repression of dissidents, Costa Rica agreed to mediate between Honduras and its overthrown leader whom Obama rushed to defend, a Frenchwoman is held in Iran over charges of espionage, ethnic tensions rose in China, North Korea continued firing missiles and a tenacious politician promised should she would return.

In case we needed to get caught up.

Happy Independence Day

For the fourth of July.

My love of this country. I’m one of those people, you know, I see a soldier walk through the airport and, you know, my heart does a little double-take. And I hear the Pledge of Allegiance or our National Anthem and I get a lump in my throat. And know that that’s the majority of Americans. Also, I am so proud, have been so proud of our country, every step of the way.

Because even a resigning governor -an accomplished one- is better than a lame-duck president with no love for the country he leads.

Canada: Tastes Great, Less Filling

Damn straight!

Things About Canada You Might Not Know

Canada comes from the Iroquois word, kanata, meaning "village".

Possible names for Canada included New Britain, Laurentia, Cabotia and Ursalia. Floyd never made the list.

"O Canada" was proclaimed the national anthem on July 1st, 1980, one hundred years after it was first sung. Here is a very stirring rendition.

The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railroad was driven in by Lord Strathcona (Donald Smith) on November 7th, 1885 at Craigellachie, British Columbia.

Louis Riel was technically not a Canadian citizen when he was hanged for treason.

Canada has no true deserts, though it does have places with desert-like features. The sandy expanse south of Lake Athabasca is an example.

The license plate for the Northwest Territories is in the shape of a polar bear (as you can see).

Things you didn't know until now.....

(information obtained from The Great Canadian Trivia Book, by Mark Kearney and Randy Ray)

Canada. It's Spelled With a "C"

Canadians have shown a lack of pride in terms of civic and historical matters in the past and this year is no different.

Only forty-two percent of respondents in a recent Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey knew that Canada has three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

Fewer knew the correct year of Confederation (1867).

How did this happen? How did we get from understanding basic spelling rules and knowing where Saskatchewan is to complete ignorance? Is there a (L) liberal agenda to blame? Are parents not infusing children with a basic pride and knowledge of their homeland? Are teachers more concerned with leaving at three PM than imparting the most basic knowledge about a country their students are told to love because it has Tim Horton's? How did we become so pathetic?

When I worked for the school system, I overheard a Grade Eight teacher describe Canada as Great Britain's "buddy" and that's why we went to war in 1914. The teacher didn't make the effort to impart on his students how we, as a colony, were obliged to go to war and how some Canadians actually felt it was their duty to go. By reducing Canada to a mere "buddy", he reduced the impact his students might have felt when they learned (hopefully, not from him) how we went to war for the second time on our own. Pure intellectual laziness stunted these minds. What a dink.

Go to the Dominion Institute website and take the icons challenge. How well did you do?

In other news:

You have to laugh at this. Toronto's unionised garbage workers are on strike. The town stinks (in every sense of the word). The city has spared no expense for the over-inflated "Pride Week" but will pare down Canada Day celebrations because, apparently, there are more body-painted pervs than there are Canadians. Now, with only a handful of private workers to clean up the dreadful (and I suspect, biohazardous) mess, the unionised garbage workers are "unhappy".

I am so glad I'm not in Toronto now.

A recount has declared the election in Iran valid. In a way, it's no surprise, given whatever other irregularities might exist there. It is also no surprise that 3,000 were beaten. Don't let anything else remove this issue from the radar.

I don't understand. Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega want another leftist politician to re-take his former country because it is the lawful thing to do? There is a joke in here somewhere.

Mais Non!

President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that burqas- the full-length garb required in some Islamic societies- are not welcome in France given that they are symbols of oppression and failure to assimilate in an open, secularist society.

It is refreshing to see a European leader- a French one, no less- standing his shaky ground. Sarkozy's statement takes grand courage as France is populated with a young, restive Islamic population ready to torch cars at any moment.

Bon chance, I say nonetheless!

For Your Perusal

From Strategic Forecasting, George Friedman's essay about the current events in Iran (kindly reproduced here). There are several good points made here (however pessimistic).

A sample:

But critically, the protesters were not joined by any of the millions whose votes the protesters alleged were stolen. In a complete hijacking of the election by some 13 million votes by an extremely unpopular candidate, we would have expected to see the core of Mousavi's supporters joined by others who had been disenfranchised. On last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, when the demonstrations were at their height, the millions of Mousavi voters should have made their appearance. They didn't. We might assume that the security apparatus intimidated some, but surely more than just the Tehran professional and student classes posses civic courage. While appearing large, the demonstrations actually comprised a small fraction of society.

I argue that if such factions do exist, we might not hear about them given the media blackout. It is also be reasonable to assume that (as was stated above) they were intimidated and might not be as "savvy" as the intelligentsia in Iran.

Just some thoughts.

Oh Boy...

If President Obama doesn't want to call sides in Iran because he doesn't know who to appease, fine. But don't invite them over for the Fourth of July.

It's just bad form.

Because It Can't Be Said Enough

Globe and Mail columnist Lysiane Gagnon takes Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff to task over his characterisation of the Yellow Quill reservation story.

In Mr. Ignatieff's words:

"Imagining what we share is not easy. Imagining this land is never just to imagine it as it appears to you alone. It is to imagine it as an Inuit person might see it ... To imagine it as a citizen is to imagine it as a resident of Yellow Quill reservation in Saskatchewan would have had to imagine it, this Canada where two half-naked children died in a snow-covered field in the subarctic darkness because their father tried to take the sick little girls to his parents and never made it, and all you can hope is that death was as mercilessly quick as the cold can make it. What does a resident of Yellow Quill imagine, what do we, Canadians, imagine our country to be, the morning we learn that children have perished this way? It is surely more than just a tragic story of one family. It is a story about us."

What about us as a nation puts us squarely to blame for a drunkard's inability- correction- refusal to safeguard the welfare of his children?

Maybe we are to blame. We are to blame for allowing a two-tiered justice system instead of just one. We are to blame for the soft-serve racism that posits the idea that people of different races or religions are incapable of looking after themselves which means the "White Man" must (as he is obliged) do it. I thought such paternalism went out with the British Empire but I suppose I could be wrong. We are to blame for allowing a "victim/fingerpointing" culture to thrive like a fungus. We are to blame for the avoidance of accountability.

And we are to blame for allowing an American dilettante the opportunity to use a tragedy as some sort of platform.

That's the Chicago Way!

Even Singapore is rising against North Korea's militarism.

The North Korean newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, responds in kind:

"It is foolish and ridiculous of our enemy powers to call for more
sanctions and isolation... (do they think) it could make us even raise our
eyebrows one bit?... If they point a gun at us, we will get back with a cannon.
If they point a cannon, we will point missiles and for sanctions, we will give
them revenge. Getting back with a nuclear weapon for a nuclear weapon is what we do."

That's a little melodramatic.

Saturday Night Special

An absolutely minty selection for a sultry evening.

Mishmash #2

According to the North Korean state-run news agency, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were sentenced to twelve years in prison, illegally entered North Korea in order to shoot a "smear campaign". Smear campaigns are designed to unfairly attack a person or an institution. If Euna

Lee and Laura Ling did illegally enter North Korea for the purposes of filming a report, would the report be unfair if it exposed....

mass starvation and prison camps

The world has already been given a clue.

What are North Korea's motives? The heir apparent, Kim Jong Un, may be trying to secure a place for himself independent of China, or he may be acting out China's whims. If China appears to be the only one to control North Korea, the US (and I suspect other nations) will be more than happy to re-adopt a status quo of North Korea under China's influence.

Things in Iran have gotten worse since the election. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismisses the waves of Mousavi supporters as merely "displeased" by the results. I argue as the ayatollahs have the real power, even if Mousavi was truly elected (and that may be the case), how far could he go with his reforms? If Mousavi is a true reformer and did have the backing of the ayatollah, would the West be pleased with an Iran less concerned with Israel and its proposed plans for the Palestinians and more concerned with re-shaping its image on the international stage? One can hope.

Jennifer Lynch, best known for her tangles with Ezra Levant, issued a speech in which she claims human rights commissions are unfairly targeted for abuse:

We are in a time when a mounting campaign suggests that equality has
been achieved in Canada. Certain detractors seek to caricature the human rights
system, and undermine its legacy and ability to ensure equality for all
Canadians.

This began with a complaint brought against Rogers Communications
by the Canadian Islamic Congress, in three jurisdictions: Federal, Ontario, and
British Columbia. All three dismissed the complaint.

Even before the three complaints were dismissed, many commissions
and tribunals experienced a cacophony of protest – by those who felt that
exposing mainstream media organizations to formal complaints is inconsistent
with Canada’s commitment to freedom of expression.

The debate moved to one of discrediting Commissions’ processes,
professionalism and staff. Much of what was written was inaccurate, unfair, and
at times scary:

Articles described human rights commissions and their employees in
this way:

“Gestapo”
“human rights racket”
“welcome to the whacky
world of Canadian human rights.”
“...(i)t sounds like a fetish club for
servants of the Crown”
“a secretive and decadent institution”

If Miss Lynch would kindly explain to the Canadian taxpayer why special interest groups are able and very willing with the government's help to stifle any form of expression they feel is injurious (or why she still wants to stifle free speech).

Perhaps Mr. Levant can explain it better:

We’ve heard more than enough from the CHRC. It’s no longer a civil liberties organization. It’s a self-perpetuating industry full of empire-building bureaucrats, global junketeers and political bullies.

Bingo.

What Class Looks Like

Remember when Governor Sarah Palin was called "trailer trash" even though she doesn't live in a trailer? Sure, you do.

Now, she has- apparently- accepted some lukewarm form of apology from the bitter late-night talk-show host, David Letterman:

"Of course it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."

Who's trashy now?

I guess that "trailer trash" insult doesn't work any more.