Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Sick Underbelly of the Rabid Left on Display
Rush Limbaugh has been taken to a hospital in Hawaii, suffering from chest pains.
I've never been a fan of his show. I've tried listening to it a few times but found it just too over the top. With that said, I recognize that he's a bright man and a powerful voice in the conservative movement.
But the news of his hospitalization has opened up the Gates of Hell on the Left. Comments on Politico and the Daily Kos clearly illustrate the deep depravity and absolute disgusting nature of the Anonymous Cowards who would tell you to your face that they are the most compassionate, tolerant people on the planet.
I didn't wish ill will to Ted Kennedy when he was suffering and would never wish it on anyone I disagreed with except for the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc. The next time someone tells you that they're a "liberal" or a "leftie" just remember the types of folks they're in political bed with. :-(
Posted by Robert W. at 12:33 AM
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Current State of Flying
Here's a powerful column by Christopher Hitchens about the current state of flying in the West.
This comment therein really struck a chord with me:
A while back, I was traveling internationally and I experienced some airport security that actually impressed me.
It started off in the check in line before I even got my ticket. I was approached by a sergeant in the national military and was asked a series of questions while he went through my bags. And I do mean went through my bags. He asked the usual ones about did I pack it, blah blah, and then he asked me
"What color is the bag on the inside?"
"When did you buy this bag?"
"Why did you buy this bag?"
He did the exact same thing for each and every one of my checked bags and my carry on. After that, I went and got my ticket and went through a metal detector and x-ray machine. Then I went through passport control, then another metal detector, then another passport control, this time with a brief frisk. After that, it was a third metal detector (not x-ray this time) and finally a full on frisk by another representative of the national military. Let me tell you, this was not a friendly pat, pat like what TSA gives you. This was a full on search like I was an enemy prisoner that they were concerned had a knife hidden somewhere on me.
After all of that, they stuck me in a windowless room with all of the other passengers until our flight was ready to board (About 1/2 an hour). There were no shops, no bathrooms, and only one room with men and women with automatic rifles posted at the exits.
What it gave me the impression of was people who had had issues with hijacking and terrorism before and REALLY didn't want it to happen again. People who didn't give a shit if I was inconvenienced or annoyed because they knew that it would be far more of an inconvenience for me if some asshole blew the plane up over the ocean somewhere.
When I think about the TSA procedures and I think about the procedures at this, foreign, airport I have to laugh at the TSA. The TSA are people trying to make us feel better without actually doing anything. The TSA are, as one person put it, "security theatre". As evidenced by the most recent episode.
By the way, in case you were wondering, the airport I was flying out of was the one in Maricaibo, Venezuela.
Posted by Robert W. at 10:34 AM
Stephen Harper and Wikipedia
I was watching a year-end interview of Stephen Harper and became curious to see what his Wikipedia entry had to say. After all, with the recent William Connelly Climategate fiasco, everyone should be very skeptical of what they read on Wikipedia.
On the discussion page for Harper I came across this:
Posted by Robert W. at 10:22 AM
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Israeli Security vs. Politically Correct Western Security
Israeli security at their airport is extensive and layered. They screen for weapons, as a routing measure, but the most important part is the human screening.
They do it with people walkng the lines and having conversations with people, and they do it with people watching the crowds through cameras.
The human screeners are highly trained to read people for lies and discomfort. They will engage you in conversation about the weather and proceed to ask you about politics, the news and maybe more serious topics. The issue is they will also capture anyone with an anti authoritarian streak who gets their back up over this, as happened to an acquaintence of mine, white of irish lineage. It isnt just arabs or "muslims" they target or speak to....since israeli's know their enemies and their sympathizers come in all shapes sizes and colours.
Banning all muslims is silly, but pretending that the heart of the problem isnt within that community is equally silly.
Western military tradition has succeeded through technology, thats the histroy. We shouldnt abandon these paths. But we shouldnt be so enamoured with that we abandon other tactics, like the human side or the bigger picture. Use technology, like IT to better screen who doesnt belong, use technology to help analyze human intelligence or better train screeners etc. At the end of the day, we will lose this war if we lose our will to fight....thats a societal level thing.
Right now, I want some of these other loose ends cleared, maybe they are maybe they arent the confidene level isnt high. Was there soemone filming th eflight, was there a second man arrested on that flight, was there a "sherpa" in amsterdam, did the guy board without a passport, was the mule drugged?
They at least have confirmed that the material was big enough to have brought the airliner down.
Posted by: Stephen at December 29, 2009 7:43 AM
As Stephen's comments show, the Israelis take an approach to security measures that should be considered seriously by North American governments. On the other hand, one of the reasons for the effectiveness of those measures is that most Israelis (and certainly those tasked with security) do understand that they are engaged in a war against terror, do understand that there are large numbers of people who wish to destroy them, and are personally invested in the preservation of their own state and people. As I endure the ordeal of airline travel in this country and the USA, there doesn't seem to be the same awareness and commitment on the part of those whose main task is to protect the public.
Posted by Robert W. at 6:00 PM
Terence Corcoran's Landmark Analysis of the Climategate E-mails
If you're willing to invest a little time, this is an important & valuable read for anyone interested in the Earth's climate and the politics surrounding it:
Part 1: The scientists seem to have become captives of the IPCC's objectives
Part 2: A 2,000 page epic of science and skepticism
Posted by Robert W. at 2:59 PM
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Future of Air Travel
I've been listening to Mark Steyn guest hosting Rush Limbaugh's show today. A female caller named Jessica called up and said, "Why should we just place our hands on our knees for the last hour of every flight? Instead, let's go all the way where the Obama Administration wants us to: reach way forward, grab our ankles, and assume the position."
You know, this could be combined with Obamacare by having a team of doctors & nurses strolling the aisles, performing cavity checks for "health reasons" on every passenger.
Remember, it's all for your own good!
Posted by Robert W. at 9:35 PM
Interesting Predictions for 2010
The following comes from a regular commenter on SDA who goes by the moniker of "ET". She's a female professor in Toronto and is both eloquent and brilliant.
Obama is a malignant narcissist, a psychological state that, by now, is beyond amelioration. He was a sales strategy to gain governmental power of a Set of Radical Socialists of the Democratic Party. This Set, which I call the BackRoom Gang (BRG) has an agenda of radical statism for the US and globalization or the loss of national sovereignty for the world.
They are idealogues, living in a world of ideas and, entrapped in this virtual world, are indifferent to the deep harm they cause by their agenda. The destruction of the ability to progress in any area both intellectual and material, the destruction of wealth, the destruction of the middle class - they are indifferent because words, or the virtual realm, are their only reality.
What I think will happen in the US is an increasing separation of powers with Obama now being acknowledged as the visible public performer making staged appearances to screened audiences while all decisions will be made by the radical statist socialists, an unelected shadow Executive Office.
I’ll predict MORE terrorist attacks. These are due to Obama’s behavior of this past year. That is, both Obama and Al Qaeda can be analyzed within a psychological frame that shows they are remarkably similar.
Obama as a narcissist requires constant and increasing adulation. For Obama, if you are dissident and non-adoring, you are ‘unAmerican’ and effectively irrelevant. Al Qaeda requires exactly the same from its members; you are either under their control or expendable.
Obama’s refusal to acknowledge the existence of Al Qaeda as such a power, by his reduction of their unique identity to the ambiguous ‘man-caused disasters’, and his reduction of the war on terror to the equally irrelevant ‘overseas contingency operations’ has incited, yes, INCITED Al Qaeda to active aggression vs the USA. There will be MORE Al Qaeda attacks vs the USA…Bush pushed Al Qaeda back into the Islamic nations but Obama has incited them to again confront the US.
Their psychological need for power…up against Obama’s psychological need to ignore anyone who has a different adulation focus than Obama…is the cause of the Al Qaeda ‘we’ll show you’ new active agenda vs the US.
I also predict that the increasing split of the Executive into Show (carried out by Obama) and Decision-Making (carried out by the BackRoom Gang) will reach a critical point where Congress will feel threatened about losing control of decisions for the BRG will run things by backroom deals and threats and ignore Congress.
I don’t think Obama’s kowtowing to enemies and insults to allies will stop but both the BRG and the international world will see him more and more as irrelevant and the focus will be on the powers of the BRG…whose interest is in globalization. I doubt if the BRG is interested in regime change in Iran; in fact they might welcome Iran starting a war in the ME. It will be a diversion during the 2010 election year.
Will the BRG allow Obama to spend as much time travelling as he’s done – all of it so far both useless and harmful? How will they keep his narcissism fed? Will he, as is happening now, play more golf and have even His Voice coming from the BRG in the White House?
The BRG and Democrats will do something to try to stop the massive loss of electoral support before the 2010 elections; I’m not sure what – the current victim tactics of racialism, blame Bush, to-be-wealthy-is-a-sign-of-greed, are wearing thin. So I’m not sure what new tactic will be used. But, it will be some form of psychological attack against the average American, to incite guilt for not supporting Obama.
I don’t see these idealogues moving into any responsible mode of govenance. They'll search for more areas to tax as more people move their business and monies out of the US. I'll predict a surge in interest in Canada!
The questions are: how will these ideologues retain power in Congress? If they lose Congress how will they retain power? By denying Congress any power..as they have been doing this year..using bribes, rejecting debate, rejecting reading of the bills etc? Obama's Public Appeal is lessening, so, how will they deal with his narcissism?
And how will they deal with more terrorist attacks against the US? Blame Americans yet again?
Deny them as terrorist and reduce them to 'aberrant behaviour of lone radicalized individuals'...as they are now doing?
Posted by: ET at December 28, 2009 11:08 AM
Posted by Robert W. at 11:36 AM
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Olympics Rental Scam Encountered
I posted an ad on Craigslist, trying to help a friend find accommodations in Whistler or environs while she volunteers up there. I received many responses, all of which I presume to be legitimate. But today I received this one:
Jessica Campbell |
| 12:40 PM (7 hours ago) |
Jessica CampbellLoading... | 12:40 PM (7 hours ago) |
Apartment Details
Jessica Campbell <info4pat4@gmail.com>
| 12:40 PM (7 hours ago) |
The apartment is well furnished two bedroom apartment which has the following facilities .
* living and dinnig room
* 2 bedrooms
* 1 bathroom
* Open kitchen
* Toilet
* Air conditioner
* Central Heating
* Microwave
* Washing Machine
*internet facility
The apartment is located in the following address .
4759 Main Street, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
The rental fee of the apartment is $800 per month including all utility bills .I have attached the photo of the apartment to this mail. kindly notify me if you are satisfied with the apartment in other for us to discuss on the payment procees and how you will get the apartment keys and documents.
looking forward to read from you .
Cheers
At first I was very excited for my friend. But the $800 per month rate seemed too good to be true, especially when similar places are going for $200+ per night! So I did a Google search of that e-mail address and it returned an ad of a 2-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with similar wording. Finally, I searched for "4759 Main Street" in Whistler. No such address exists!
Beware of the scam artists, my friends, do beware!
Posted by Robert W. at 8:06 PM
A Rich Terrorist - Who Would Have Thunk It?
We're constantly told by Leftists (in & out of the MSM) that poverty is what breeds terrorism. That belief system was kind of torn to threads with the latest terrorist attempt.
Let's patiently wait for a mea culpa from the braniacs at CNN, the BBC, and the CBC.
Posted by Robert W. at 6:16 PM
Looking Back at the Dismal First Decade of the New Century
Conrad Black is indeed in prison, but he still pens interesting articles. Well worth a read!
Posted by Robert W. at 10:04 AM
Saturday, December 26, 2009
How the Left Pollutes Clear Thinking in Academia
To get some insight into the mind of someone who is charged with teaching Canada's young adults, do read this story or this one. Here's some analysis of the same.
More than a few things jumped out at me when I read these stories but this quote from Wilton was a gem: "It also represents a conservative political ideology that punishes individual initiative...." Only in the wildest pipe dream of a leftist academic would one conceive that conservatism punishes individual initiative!!! But if we were to accept her words verbatim then if a young person were seeking their individual initiatives to be recognized, they should go work in a public sector union job in the government? Do some people actually read such blather and not question it?!?
Posted by Robert W. at 11:36 AM
The Lives of Others
I just watched the 2006 German film, Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others in English) about the dreadful practices of the Stasi, the Secret Police in East Germany. It's an incredibly powerful film and should be watched by everyone living in a democracy. Furthermore, rather than brainwashing school children with Al Gore's propaganda, this film should be mandatory viewing for every high school student, who are so easily fooled by the allure of Socialism (in no small part due to the extreme socialist leanings of way too many teachers and their unions).
If you're a Canadian and think that the State can never overreach its authority then you clearly haven't been following the exploits of the assorted "Human Rights" Commissions across our nation. Here's one example of creepiness. Follow Ezra Levant's blog and you'll read about hundreds more.
Here's the trailer for the film:
Posted by Robert W. at 12:14 AM
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Doggone Fun in the Snow
This was published a few years ago I do love watching it again at this time of year.
Posted by Robert W. at 11:03 PM
A Touching Moment
"I don't want to be greedy." These were the words I just heard from a fellow to whom I'll be dropping off 2 computers tomorrow. It was in reaction to me asking him if his drug & alcohol treatment facility could benefit from more than just one computer. Quite a contrast from the young woman who showed up a few years ago to get her free computer ... driving a brand new Silver Mercedes! I know it "takes all kinds to make the world go round" but sometimes I wish some of them would be spun off of our rotating globe!!
BC Digital Divide
Posted by Robert W. at 9:59 AM
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Dear Citizen of the West: Bend Over and Take It!
Posted by Robert W. at 7:08 PM
Has CKNW's Sean Leslie Done a Mea Culpa on Climate Change?
I caught the opening of Sean Leslie's show this afternoon and believe I heard something very different than the past few months. You can listen to it here beginning at 8:00.
Now, I have never felt that he was a hard-core Leftie but his choice of guests when it came to environmental topics has, for a long time, been VERY slanted. Suddenly today, after the disaster that was the Copenhagen Conference, Mr. Leslie seems to be singing a somewhat different, much more skeptical tune.
Posted by Robert W. at 7:01 PM
Canadian Population vs. Number of MPs
A discussion on Roy Green's radio program about possible Western Separation got me wondering about the political representation in Ottawa from each province. So I did a little research and compiled the numbers:
You can download the Excel spreadsheet I created here.
Posted by Robert W. at 12:14 PM
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Will Elizabeth May Promise To Apologize & Resign If . . .
This afternoon CKNW's Sean Leslie interviewed the leader of Canada's Green Party, Elizabeth May. You can listen to it here beginning at 33:30. During her Hate-Canada / Hate-America diatribe she:
- Put the "needs" of the United Nations heads & tails above those of Canada & Canadians.
- Refused to once criticize China or India for their pollution.
- Stated that if CO2 production (which directly equates to economic activity) doesn't start dropping by 2015 then we will trigger the cataclysmic destruction of The Earth.
- Equated Global Warming skepticism to an unwillingness to combat Fascism in the 1930's & 40's.
- Uttered the same old Al Gore talking point: "The science around climate change is not debatable."
- Stated a lie that every year the world delays in doing what she demands will cost the world economy $500 Billion per year.
- Claimed that the greenhouse gases we emit today has a lifespan of 100 years.
- Unequivocally stated that "the Canadian government was the worst one in the room". Note: The governments of Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Venezuela were there, among other dictatorships.
- Wants a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 (from 1990 levels). Note: This would absolutely devastate the Canadian economy, throwing countless people out of work.
- Claimed that if we don't follow what she has demanded then the sea level will rise by 9 metres, which will really hurt coastal cities such as Vancouver & Victoria.
Posted by Robert W. at 6:19 PM
The Enviro-Hypocrites
Mark Steyn skewers the AGW Alarmists and points out how so many of them are absolute hypocrites. Here's a preview:
Even making allowances for the stupidity of youthful idealism, the protesters in the streets of Copenhagen seem especially obtuse. Far from sticking it to the Man, they're cheerleading for the biggest Man of all: They're supporting a new globalized feudalism in which Prince Charles, Prince Al, Prince Rajendra and others "very high up in climate change" jet around the world at public expense telling the rest of us we need to stay put. A British parliamentarian recently proposed that everyone be issued an annual "carbon allowance" that would be drawn down every time he or she booked a flight or filled up his car or bought a washer and dryer instead of beating the laundry on the rocks down by the river with the village women every week. You think the Prince of Wales or any other member of the new global elite will be subject to that "allowance"?
Posted by Robert W. at 12:10 PM
Friday, December 18, 2009
Liberal Fascism's Academic Poster Boy: William Connolley
Lawrence Solomon has just published a shocking article about an academic tyrant named William Connolley. If you've ever wondered why you should be skeptical of everything you read on Wikipedia, let alone the entire Internet, Solomon's article explains why, in great detail. It should be mandatory reading for every schoolchild.
Earlier this month climatologist Tim Ball alluded to Connolley's nefarious activities as well. Oddly enough, if you go to Connolley's own Wikipedia page, there's absolutely nothing about this controversy. The thing about tyrants is that a combination of ego & arrogance motivates them to shut up any criticism of themselves that they can possibly control.
Posted by Robert W. at 9:48 PM
MP Linda Duncan's Last Dispatch from Copenhagen
In other words:
- Nothing was achieved.
- Linda Duncan had a 5-star vacation paid for by working Canadians.
- An enormous amount of energy was wasted ... for no good reason whatsoever.
Posted by Robert W. at 9:17 PM
Liberal Fascism on Display in Copenhagen
Jonah Goldberg has much more to say about such people in his landmark book, Liberal Fascism.
Posted by Robert W. at 8:56 PM
Undercover Video of Global Warming "Destroying" Copenhagen!
Don't listen to what those greedy right-wing neo-cons have been telling you! They're all financed by the oil companies. Al Gore has been right all along. Global Warming is destroying Copenhagen right now in an unprecedented heat wave!!!
Posted by Robert W. at 4:08 PM
Thursday, December 17, 2009
What Will David Suzuki Say Next? (something utterly asinine I suspect)
Jump ahead to about 6 minutes in:
Kelly McParland shares his thoughts.
Posted by Robert W. at 10:39 PM
Cap and Trade: What Canada is Thankfully Foregoing
Canadian "Environmentalists" in Copenhagen are condemning Canada with the same fervor (and blinded close-mindedness) of Fundamentalist Christian zealots at a rally to drive away Satan.
Let's be crystal clear about something: These same folks are attending speeches by Robert Mugabe and Hugo Chavez, and [at least] cheering on the latter when he speaks of the death of capitalism. It's getting curiouser & curiouser who these holier-than-thou enviro-lefties are breaking bread with.
On a practical & factual level, here's an excellent article on the Cap & Trade System that they're condemning Canadian leaders for not signing up for.
Nuts!
Posted by Robert W. at 2:03 PM
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Lizzie May's Love Affair with Dictators
Reprising the role of Eva Perón (albeit set in Venezuela), the Green Party's Elizabeth May attended a speech/enviro-rally given by her hearthrob, Dictator Hugo Chavez. Much like a schoolgirl writing about her favourite boy-band, May detailed everything Chavez blathered on about in Copenhagen:
Unlike in her hero's country, we actually still have honest, democratic elections here in Canada. The next time Ms. May is campaigning for your support, don't forget how much she adores and respects this guy.
No word yet whether she attended and applauded this speech given by Robert Mugabe. In case you're not familiar with this murderous dictator, please take the time to familiarize yourself. Are there perhaps other dictators & mass murderers that those on the Canadian Left have on their agenda to break bread with over in Copenhagen?
Checking the weather forecast over there, it looks like it'll be snowing Thursday & Friday. Perhaps Lizzie May and her comrades can conduct a seance over an open bonfire to try to reach out to Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot!
I really am incredulous at who the Canadian Left enjoys rubbing shoulders with. :-(
Posted by Robert W. at 11:29 PM
Copenhagen's Dieing Days/Daze
Here are some very interesting dispatches from the Copenhagen conference:
- Richard Fernandez: It's all about the money
- Roger L. Simon's Vidcast
- Lenore Taylor: Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez cheered
As was pointed out by Roger L. Simon on the Pajamas Media website, 11 AP reporters were assigned to fact check Sarah Palin's book. Just 5 were assigned to fact check the Climategate documents. That difference in numbers alone speaks volumes about media bias but here's a question related to their competence: What scientific background did these reporters have?
I VERY MUCH DOUBT that virtually any AP reporter would be able to make heads or tails of what's contained in the document I referred to above. And I'll bet you a box of Tim Hortons donuts that Elizabeth May wouldn't either. Yet we were told by all of these folks that there was nothing wrong or improper with the documents. How would they know???
I would LOVE to see Lord Monckton or Tim Ball, on live TV, pull out one of the scientific documents at random and get the "climate change expert" to explain even a tiny bit of the science or math within. What a spectacle that would be!
Posted by Robert W. at 9:54 PM
Resolving All Inequities: A Little Satire by Thomas Sowell
Now that we're in the Reign of The Obama, a lot of Radical Leftists have convinced themselves that the world is ready, willing, and interested to hear their "brilliant" ideas. More times than not such ideas revolve around solving inequity problems, be it for individuals or nations. Their ideas are to effect equality, which always sounds noble & righteous on the surface. But if you dig a little deeper, you discover that they're not talking about equality of opportunity, rather they mean equality of end results.
I learned of a brilliant piece of satire by Thomas Sowell entitled A Personal Inequity: Me and Michael Jordan. It succinctly explains why striving for such goals is not just silly, it's downright stupid. Furthermore, if you comprehend what he's saying then you'll immediately understand why he, I, and many others do not agree with affirmative action; not because we're heartless individuals but precisely the opposite.
Posted by Robert W. at 1:12 PM
The Anti-Human Zealotry of the Enviro-Leftists
Anne Applebaum is no right-wing conservative but she also knows more than a little about the USSR and the dark shadow of totalitarianism it cast over the world for half a century. It's therefore not surprising that she has broken step with the Gore-Suzuki-Mallick-Francis Enviro-Zealots and penned this brilliant editorial.
I've read a lot of criticisms of Applebaum's piece by Leftists frothing at the mouth. That adds the gold seal of validation that a piece has raised some major truths which is causing massive cognitive dissonance!
Posted by Robert W. at 12:52 AM
Weather Forecasts vs. Global Warming
24 hours ago Vancouverites were warned that our city would be covered in snow. It never arrived. In fact, it wasn't really even cold today. Yet other folks in the climate biz assure us that they're absolutely sure that the Earth will be destroyed by Climate Change if we don't make drastic changes in our lifestyle, turning back the economic clock at least 100 years.
So let's review, climate scientists (aka meteorologists) can't even be sure of the accuracy of their predictions 24 hours from now, yet other climate scientists (at academic institutions that need to keep on getting government grants) tell us they're absolutely sure of what will happen with the Earth's climate many decades from now.
And the masses the world over think this makes perfect sense?!?
Posted by Robert W. at 12:18 AM
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Psychopathic Brain Trust of the Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada is having a "Photo Challenge" contest. Here are some of the images that have been allowed to be displayed on the OFFICIAL Liberal Party website:
Note: The first one, of the assassination of Canada's Prime Minister, was pulled down but only after complaints were raised about it. All of the others still remain.
The Liberal Party of Canada has every right to display any image it wishes, for that's what free speech is all about. But to illustrate the mindset at work we need to look back about 75 years. In the years leading up to Nazi Germany's mass murder of millions of Jewish people throughout Europe, their propaganda ministry paved the way by dehumanizing Jews through countless articles and cartoons. This continued throughout World War 2. Here are a few examples:
The Mobilization of the People: The cartoon shows a photograph of a Jew captioned "Satan". Streicher regularly used the old religious argument that the Jews were in league with the Devil. This issue appeared as the last German troops in Stalingrad surrendered.
The Decent Jew: The cartoon shows a Jew politely asking for room on the bench, after which he shoves the previous inhabitant off. The poem notes that Jews behave the same way in other situations.
The Polyp: A Jew has his tentacles around England, Russia, the United States, and China.
Behind the Curtains: A Jewish puppeteer is looking nervously at his remaining puppets: Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. On the floor are broken former puppets, including Neville Chamberlain.
More examples can be found here and here and here. The psychology behind this campaign is simple to understand: If you want to do harm to someone or want others to do harm to them it becomes easier if you can first get people thinking that the intended target(s) are less than human and/or less deserving of respect.
In the language of tribes, it's always easier to disrespect "them" than it is to disrespect "us".
For those not familiar with what happened to an estimated 6 Million Jews in World War 2, please click here and here. It was an absolutely appalling chapter in human history. Perhaps I take it more personally because half of my ancestry comes from Germany. In 2008 I had occasion to immediately and vociferously chastise an acquaintance of mine, to his face, for even suggesting that what occurred back then was overblown by "Jewish Propaganda Groups". When I then asked him about 9/11 victims, he admitted that he wondered about the rumor that no Jews were killed that day. I sent him this link and this, suggesting with the latter that for starters he look for last names beginning with "Gold" and "Rose".
In summary, I am not suggesting that there is a direct equivalence between Liberal Party members and German Nazis. But I am indeed shouting from the rooftops that the former should rethink it's Harper Hate-Fest, lest they directly or indirectly "assist" some unbalanced minds marching down a very dangerous path.
On a more basic level, is this really what the Liberal Party of Canada has stooped to? If Liberal Party members get their pre-Christmas jollies from cartoons that simulate the murder of Canada's PM, turn him into an ape & a fish & a woman, then may I respectfully suggest that they turn to a close friend and ask for a much needed hug. If that's not sufficient to lessen their hatred for Stephen Harper then perhaps they need to get some professional counseling. Seriously.
Posted by Robert W. at 12:46 PM
"It's a disgrace, if you ask me, it's a complete disgrace that we're running around playing this sort of 'gotcha' journalism in Ottawa while we've got all of these soldiers engaged in this epochal struggle here, and treating - by the way - Taliban prisoners with kid gloves."
"Well, this is the funny thing - and we've all struggled with this here - I've talked to a number of journalists about this who are with me, and the journalists that are here, and we're all scratching are heads and wondering what is the story here, exactly? You tell me. What's news? How is it possible that any editor in his right mind could think that Peter MacKay conceding that we've known that some of these drooling brigands that are apprehended by the Afghan national army get their ears boxed a little bit from time to time? That's the way it was, that isn't the way it works now, by the way, not since 2007. The process is meticulous, it is squeaky-clean, it is public, it involves corrections Canada, the international Red Cross, the military police, the Afghan security and intelligence group, NATO - all of these detainees, and there's hardly any, by the way, we rarely turn anyone over to the Afghans any more. By the way, if an insurgent who kills a Canadian soldier gets apprehended on the battlefield, and puts his eye out or something like that, he goes into the same triage system as Canadian soldiers do, and if he's hurt a little bit more than a Canadian soldier is, he gets priority.
"All of this is old news. I'm sorry, (but) I mean, I spent fifteen years working for the dailies, and I've done a lot of sort of book writing and magazine writing ever since, and I'm not one of these embittered and cynical old journalists, but this is a bunch of reporters embedded at the Darcy McGhee pub in Ottawa trying to make a nuisance of themselves."
I highly recommend listening to the whole thing.
Posted by: EBD at December 30, 2009 10:48 PM