The Extremely Brave Protesters in Iran

I am overwhelmed with empathy and admiration for those in Iran who are protesting for their freedom. There are reports now that many of the members of security forces don't speak Farsi, the national language of the country. In other words, they're thugs brought in from other countries.

We here in the West sooooooooooo take our democracy for granted. Take a look at the photos at this link. This gentleman is providing constant feeds on Twitter. There are many more photos here.

Democracy Erupts in Iran

It appears that the people of Iran are fed up with what clearly appears to be a stolen election. But do they have the means to effect the democracy they're seeking?

Here is video from Tehran:

Michael Totten has full coverage.

Prager University: The American Trinity

The Rhetoric of the Left: A Great Irony

Yesterday I heard a profound comment from a female caller to Dennis Miller's radio program. Prior to her call, there were numerous Left-leaning callers telling Miller how George Bush and the Religious Right dramatically instituted numerous oppressive changes in their lives. When he asked each of them to name just one such change, none of them could name even one.

Then this woman came on the air and noted how ironic it was that people on the Left often decry how the aforementioned villains are supposedly telling all Americans how to run their lives, yet complete ignore the fact that Democrats are striving to control most every facet of their lives when it comes to:

• What kind of food they can eat
• What kind of light bulbs they can use
  
• Who they can hire
• Who they can fire
• What schools they can attend if they are certain ethnicities
  
• How much wealth they can achieve
• The type of cars that can be manufactured
• Whether they can protect themselves
  

... and very shortly:

• What they can say on the Internet
• What they can listen to on the radio
• What private companies can pay their employees

To invent fictional boogeymen, yet be completely oblivious to the real losses in freedom that are going on . . . WOW, that takes a certain kind of "special" mindset!

Note: I could have provided examples for EVERY SINGLE point I listed above but just felt it was self-evident for anyone via a quick Google search. However, if anyone wants specific examples on any of the points I've raised, I'd be happy to provide them. However, I don't respond to Anonymous comments anymore.

Mark Levin on Hannity's TV Show

He's discussing his new book, Liberty and Tyranny.

Mark Levin on Hannity's TV Show

Mark Levin is an American talkshow host, author, and lawyer. He's rather abrasive to some but no reasonable person can deny that he is a brilliant intellectual. He has just published a new book entitled Liberty and Tyranny, which is the #1 most popular book on Amazon right now.

You can listen to his free podcasts here.

Here he is on Sean Hannity's popular TV show:

The Longest and Most Elegant Comment Ever

Last June I added this posting about Dr. Anne Wortham. Sadly, the video of her talking was removed from YouTube. And it's a shame that there's so little on the Internet about her because she is a truly brilliant person. In many ways she is the Left's worst nightmare because:

• She's a woman
• She's African American
• She's extremely eloquent
• She disagrees with the Radical Left entirely!
  

My posting without the video is pretty much nothing but for some reason it attracts a lot of attention and some of the longest, most passionate comments ever seen on my blog. A new one just arrived, from an American in Japan. It deserves reposting here, though before reading it you might want to go to the original posting and read what's there, to put everything in context.

I can't agree with M.LaMarre, and setting the obvious arguments against Socialism aside, I would bring up the fact that there are physical hurdles to success and there are internal personal hurdles. You only address the former.

These restrictions to success need more than just "to be opened" and all shall be cured.

Success is a process, not a passage, not a line in the sand.

People can't be awarded success, anymore than they can be awarded knowledge, pride, or prowess in action. A man can be successful in one area and less-so in others. The battles we fight are diverse! One man may think his life has meaning by himself playing a guitar well, and another, by being a good husband and provider.

To another, success is being skilled at robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, and I suspect that is where LaMarre, in his/her ignorance fits in the grand scheme.

It is the challenges that make success something that is rewarded. In "moving the boxes" or striving towards the "door" as LaMarre calls it, true value is earned. Value is created, not bestowed.

We gain value in our life by becoming better people, and we all have to start at some level. We are born on some level and work up if we have the desire, or stay put, or sink.

Going through the door doesn't mean you become a better person, because there isn't a door; there is continuation of life. The "full realization of self" comes from the self. You can't give it to anyone, no mater how much you want to.

"Forgive us (because)we reject and abandon (America) and that stale ass argument and mindset that have dominated America for far too long."

An interesting mindset you have, and I place my cards on the table, and counter your false interpretation with facts:

The "reality" that the Victory of Vietnam, was our leaving it alone. 1,100 US soldiers were killed each year for ten years, and 3 million Vietnamese died in the three years following this victory. That was good? No more "real" than Pro-choice, where the one who has to die has no choice. That is good?

Millions died and continue to die for these "liberal realities," yet you talk of boxes. As our world turns to liberal ideology, it doesn't get better. It gets profoundly worse. The boxes you build are no less a box just because you build them.

LaMarre, I don't forgive you and can't join you in your delusion. I remember history too well, and see now too clearly.

I live in Japan. I am one of the few that moved from America. Not because I hate it, but because I love the principles it is built on. They are needed in more places in this world. Even Japan.

I am not trying to take from the rich and give to the poor, I am trying to give hope to all.

There are challenges here. I didn't come here because there were fewer challenges; I came here to be part of humanity. There is no substitute for freedom, and the opposite of freedom isn't war, it is slavery.

Liberal slavery, even well intended, is still slavery.

Freedom, even conservative, is still freedom. I would rather be free and poor, than equal and level in chains. The world has been dominated by chains for too long. Obama and his ilk hold the chains out and people like you, LaMarre, are all to happy to slap them on people like me.

Salim Mansur: A Different Take on the Shoe Throwing Incident

Salim Mansur is a professor of political science in London, Ontario and a frequent columnist in several newspapers. He's also a Muslim. He has a very different take on the now infamous incident of the Iraqi journalist throwing a shoe at President Bush ... and the subsequent support for this journalist. Definitely worth a read.

Freedom in America: From an Immigrant

I just received another stellar comment on the Dr. Anne Wortham video. Here is the comment in full:

I am a latin woman who left her communist/totalitarian country when I was a girl and went to live in another country. In that country I lived with all the restrictions that a foreigner confronts when you are a legal resident. Even to work I had to ask for permission and was restricted to work in certain companies only.

That country is Mexico.

Now this (USA) is a unique country, I always looked up to this country because I knew that here you could succeed if you wanted to. Believe me! it was a wonderful change, from night and day, when I moved here.

I am an american citizen and love this country, it is hard to see how people don't understand that if the government controls your life "there is no freedom". I saw this in Mexico, the media could not criticize the government or there would be repercussions, and believe me, there were!

Freedom is what allows you to be successful, there are no limits to your aspirations, it's up to you to get where you want to get. Oh! but when the government interferes in your life, there is no motivation to do anything, what for? There is no reward coming your way, you almost work for the government, since they will take a big chunk of your efforts to throw them away in any of their unuseful/wasteful programs.

Those who think that socialism is a good idea, I tell you, it's not!!! Once they start, they never end...I wonder why there are so many that are so self-defeated and so many that are naive???
The beautiful thing about life is to do your own thing and get rewarded for it. When you feel accomplished you are more giving, happier and inspired to do more. A system that restricts your freedoms and obstructs your success has a terrible and negative effect in the economy of a country and on the lives of its individuals.

Have you ever seen americans trying to flee this country in search of a better life? NO!!! But you see the rest of the world trying to come here in search of the "American Dream"...why so many want to take this away???

I urge you to think about it!!!

Diana

True Freedom

I don't usually repost comments but one was just left that is so eloquent and brilliant that not reposting it would be an injustice! It concerns this posting.

"Free people can never be equal. Equal people can never be free." I don't know who said that or if it is simply a time-proven proverb. But truer words were never spoken or written.

In order to GIVE something to one, there must be an authority powerful enough to take it from others. When there exists such a power, then neither the receiver nor the giver is free.

The greatest equalizer of all is freedom. Freedom is a state of existence in which each man and woman is unencumbered by any power or authority, save God's, and is free to succeed or fail based upon his/her own efforts and talents.

We don't have any such freedom in this country because we have foolishly commissioned government to take from the producers and give to the non-producers, I suppose to boost the fragile "self-esteem" of the non-producers. Doing that, however, dampens the morale of the producers, the very people who should be encouraged and cheered on.

When a test is given - - one for employment for example - - and one group of test-takers is credited with a ten-point advantage (based solely upon their grouping), then the better qualified applicants (the ones who should be getting the jobs) must score 10 points higher than the lesser qualified applicants just to maintain parity. Achieving a respectable score of 85 loses out to a dismal, barely-passing 76, and the lesser-qualified - - often unqualified - - gets the job and the employer and his customers lose, right along with the people who should have been employed in the first place.

Call it what you will, but that is socialism, Communism, Marxism and it doesn't work for the PEOPLE, it only works for the elite who seek to dominate and control the people and profit from their toil.

Common people are such fools.

Written by Fred Marshall

A Pivotal Point in Canada's History

Canada is at a pivotal point in its history. Canadians must decide whether Free Speech is truly a right -or- just something they like to talk about but, when push comes to shove, don't really support. Failure to speak out is exactly the same as saying, "I don't care that much about my Free Speech rights. Feel free to take them away."

In this interview with CHQR's Rob Breakenridge, Alberta lawyer Ezra Levant discusses some troubling recent events that are most clearly taking us down a very slippery slope.



On a personal note, I'm absolutely convinced that this issue has little to do with Muslims vs. non-Muslims, Gays vs. Bigots, or Whites vs. Minorities. Rather, it has everything to do with how we're going to collectively get along and deal with each other in the future.

It's very easy to say "I believe in free speech" and "I'm open minded". These are catchy phrases that everyone spouts off all the time. But the test of your convictions is when you encounter people who you vehemently disagree with and maybe even deeply offend you. When this happens, you have three choices:

1. Try to get in a reasoned debate with them.
2. Ignore them.
3. Shut them up through the force of the government.
   

I fully realize that the last option is most tempting, especially when it comes to those people whose views seem absolutely repugnant to you. Fully understandable! And this inclination has a lot to do with what we've been taught since we were young, namely don't fight back through violence but instead go to an authority figure to get justice - a parent, a teacher, a policeman, a judge.

BUT Free Speech is an entirely different matter. To truly believe in Canadian values, to truly be open minded, you must be willing to be offended. It's absolutely that simple.

Unfortunately it has been complicated by the fact that long ago politicians allowed Human Rights Commissions (HRCs) to venture into the arena of Free Speech, not paying attention to the wise maxim, "The path to Hell is paved with good intentions" or acknowledging the so-called Law of Unintended Consequences. It has further been complicated by Jewish groups using HRCs to silence and punish Neo-Nazis. All of these were mistakes but what kind of reasonable person would spend the time & energy to defend a Nazi? Civil Liberties Groups did. I criticized them for defending these horrible people. I was wrong and so was everyone else like me.

Canada is at a tipping point. If you truly believe in liberty & freedom then now is the time to speak out. Write the Attorney Generals and Premiers of your province. Write the Federal Attorney General and the Prime Minister. Even if you're not Canadian, still write. Their e-mail addresses are easy to find.

Finally, don't forget that there are Hate Crime laws both provincially and federally in Canada. So there will always be full protection for all of us. But such lawsuits will be held in front of a real judge, with real rules of order, where facts and truth are a defense. Such novel concepts are beyond the understanding of the HRCs!

Rights or Privileges?

I was especially taken by this comment by Peter O'Donnell. To him I wrote this:

An excellent point! Instead, activists like Khurrum Awan have a VERY different agenda. I encourage you to read & listen to the links provided here and to watch the aforementioned Al & Mike episode with Mark Steyn which you can find here.

I don't know about the rest of you, but this week has been a vivid wake-up call to me that our liberty and free speech are very precious things that we must forever be vigilant about protecting. Growing up in Canada, I had mistakenly thought of them as "rights" but now realize they're not. For rights are guaranteed and forever. Clearly those don't actually exist in Canada, not in the age of the HRCs.

In our Modern Age the "Barbarians at the Gate" will not be so obvious at first glance. They may be dressed in 3-piece suits or pant suits, may come in all colours and creeds, but rest assured that all kinds of apparently "well meaning" people are on a never ending crusade to destroy our basic freedoms.

June 6th, 2008: A Day That Will Forever Live in Infamy!

A Great Motto To Live By!

Monument to Cuban Refugees Arriving in America