April 30, 2010
Telephone Remake
I shudder to think what Agent Bedhead and SondraK will have to say.
Perhaps this is too good to be true
Vincent Gray at Climate Realists has noticed a little flaw in the mythical Computer Model of global warming.
The model is based on a flat Earth.
(Via Five Feet of Fury)
Slave Leia Splashdown
This original series inspired Star Wars Charity Car Wash may be the greatest car wash of all time (via Agent Bedhead).
Related: This interview with a Slave Leia fan suggests the character may have played a part in the sexual awakening of impressionable young men of a certain generation. Astonishing.
The Gladiator version of Robin Hood
Ridley Scott explains why he hasn't made a good film in ten years.
According to Scott, “The Nottingham script read a bit like CSI in green tights and I thought, 'Why are we doing this?’ If you’ve got a subject about Robin Hood, why on earth are you calling it Nottingham? So we rewrote it from page one. It’s not a remake, it’s a brand new story.
Whereas I think, "Why did you do that?" Since Universal bought Nottingham in a bidding war they presumably saw something of merit in the property. Now you discover you don't like its CSI in green tights take on the subject matter, perhaps you should have read it before agreeing to direct the project.
Meanwhile someone wrote a potentially interesting take on Robin Hood and, thanks to Ridley Scott and Universal, our chances of ever seeing it are nil. Instead, we get yet another warmed over version of Gladiator.
Strong Horse, Weak Horse: Power and Perception
Mark Steyn is almost always good. He was very good here. This video is 1:31:00 long and well worth your time. Amongst other things, he does a great job at retasking Baudrillard's analysis of the first Gulf War.
April 29, 2010
Nasty, stupid and backward
Gordon Brown has sent a grovelling email to Labour supporters apologising for hurting the party's campaign.
A TV microphone overheard Mr Brown privately attacking Mrs Duffy, 66, as a 'bigot' for daring to raise immigration with him - seconds after telling her she was a 'good woman'.
It came on the day that Labour's favourite think-tank admitted those concerned about mass immigration had been treated as 'nasty, stupid and backward.
Read the whole thing. They finally threw water on him and now he is melting.
The Eagles of Hornby Island
Doug Carrick's Hornby Island eagle cam is just the ticket to free the minds of the cubicle bound (hat tip to the Sister of the Flea).
April 28, 2010
The Whisperer in Darkness
H.P. Lovecraft's weird tale of Alien Horror comes to Vivid Life...
Einmal ist keinmal
Israel's plans for a deep sea navy advance as Germany is to sell Israel more submarines.
A reminder Israel does not need the United States, the United States needs Israel.
Elsewhere in defense technology: Global Strike takes a hit as the HTV-2 is lost in its first test flight.
India/Pakistan Wagah Attari border closing ceremony
A not so subtle reminder we are primates and spend much of our time in display behaviour. The males perhaps more so than the females for all they are the fairer sex (via Ace).
April 27, 2010
Werner Herzog Reads Curious George
Would you like to touch my monkey? Touch him! Touch my monkey!
Japanese sign Final Surrender
Anonymoose points to a previously unreleased news reel of the Japanese surrender aboard Battleship Missouri Sunday Sept. 2, 1945.
April 26, 2010
Yet another nightmare
The Club-K shipping container missile system.
Iran and Venezuela have already shown an interest in the Club-K Container Missile System which could allow them to carry out pre-emptive strikes from behind an enemy's missile defences.
The Theoretical War Against Aliens
At the risk of embracing the mushy headed liberalism of Contact, Daniel Drezner offers five thought provoking questions from an interplanetary security perspective in response to Stephen Hawkings on the alien threat.
I am partial to number 4.
It is all too easy to imagine the government of Canada (I mean you, Stephen Harper) stumbling over itself to offer landed immigrant status, English lessons (or French, certainement) and preferential hiring for Martians.
I mean, Martian-Canadians.
China to overtake U.S. as world's biggest asshole by 2020
The Onion reports.
The findings, published in the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs, support recent speculation that America's unquestioned reign as the leading super-prick may soon be drawing to a close, leaving China as the foremost shithead among all developed nations.
RTWT. Via Chris Myrick.
While we are on the subject of farce: What kind of U.N. environmental ambassador builds a 20,000 square-foot home with a six-car garage, an elevator and a lagoon?
The normal kind, I assume.
Israel Air and Navy Forces Showcase
In honour of Israel's 62nd Independence Day.
April 25, 2010
Wilkins Coffee
The before of Kermit the Frog (hat tip to the Sister of the Flea).
On power and ideology
Tehran Times reports Noam Chomsky's warning of the rise of a "far right" in the United States.
The piece is staggering in its cognitive dissonance. It is an almost hallucinatory concatenation of evil.
...
What are people supposed to think if someone says ‘I have got an answer, we have an enemy’? There it was the Jews. Here it will be the illegal immigrants and the blacks. We will be told that white males are a persecuted minority. We will be told we have to defend ourselves and the honor of the nation. Military force will be exalted. People will be beaten up. This could become an overwhelming force. And if it happens it will be more dangerous than Germany. The United States is the world power. Germany was powerful but had more powerful antagonists. I don’t think all this is very far away. If the polls are accurate it is not the Republicans but the right-wing Republicans, the crazed Republicans, who will sweep the next election.”
There it was the Jews. Here it is Christians and tax payers. Chomsky's fellow travelers use the law to discriminate against white men in employment and call it justice. They trample on the Constitution and common law and call it patriotism. Acts of terror are exalted. Black Panthers and union muscle act as enforcers for the Party.
But Chomsky is right about one thing: What is taking place is more dangerous than the rise of Nazi Germany. Thanks to Chomsky and his ilk, the United States is on the verge of eclipse as a world power. There will be consequences. These include a nuclear armed, existential evil taking shape in Tehran.
For Chomsky, not so much. He is getting on in life and will continue to enjoy the fading comforts and freedoms of a world he has helped to destroy.
Otherwise, I've just sat
GM is running a television ad acknowledging Canadians weren't happy to bail out the company and bragging it has repaid its loans with interest and five years ahead of schedule (American version at the link). The border being a porous thing in the auto sector, GM never bothers to explain whether it is the American or Canadian loans it has repaid.
The answer, both. Not that it matters. They're lying.
General Motors received $8.1 billion in loans from the governments of the United States, Canada and Ontario. This is the money they now claim to have repaid in full, the loan repayment they are now using as a marketing pitch.
And belatedly, the truth. The loan Government Motors is bragging about was repaid using other taxpayer-funded bailout money, petty cash from the breath taking $45.3 billion from the US and $8.1 billion from Canada used to save all those union auto "worker" votes in Michigan and Ontario.
61% of GM may be owned by the US government and 12% owned by the government of Canada but it was the tax payers of both countries who got 100% owned by the deal. Don't think of GM products as cars. Think of each one as a twelve thousand dollar gift from you to the guy making $65 an hour to cut grass.
But at least the grass cutters are working for their pay. The UAW contract also guarantees that 12,000 autoworkers get full wage for doing nothing. On the heels of Miller's straight-talk, the Detroit News reported that "12,000 American autoworkers, instead of bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank." These aren't jobs. And they certainly aren't being "lost" to China.
"We just go in (to Ford's Michigan Truck Plant) and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," The News quoted one UAW worker as saying. "Otherwise, I've just sat."
Note the average GM worker is content to sit and do nothing rather than take the trouble to bring his own video to work. These guys are almost as lazy as hospital admin.
We have no positive virtues at all
We are indistinguishable from the other two parties.
'We turned ourselves into the Liberal Democrats to get elected, and it looks as if they rather than we are going to benefit.
Funny thing about that last sentence. If you substitute Liberal Democrat with either Liberal or Democrat it describes Canada's Conservative party as well as it does Britain's.
That tragic reality
Victor Davis Hanson on war.
Related: Rob Johnson, Author and lecturer in the History of War, Oxford University - who wears a silly rag around his neck - offers ten of the greatest battlefield tactics of all time.
Without a thought
Stephen Hawking suggests contact with aliens is "a little too risky". This suggests Stephen Hawking is paying attention.
The V reboot has already aired in England, apparently.
April 24, 2010
Survivalism A-Z
A guide to crossing your fingers and hoping against hope.
Rule 1: Get out of the cities.
Rule 2: Get out of the cities.
Rule 3: Get out of the cities.
I think about this sort of thing from time to time and have decided to mutate with the flow and eat my neighbours instead. Plenty of good eating in the cities.
This is Chauncy Morlan...
"...and around 100 years ago his obesity was so shocking that people would pay money to see him as he toured the country as a circus 'fat man'."
April 23, 2010
April 22, 2010
All-Time Hottest Robots
Related Tags: comics, hottest robots, movies, robot, sci-fi sexy time, tv
The newest new Moon
"Thierry Legault is a French amateur astronomer… and if ever the word "amateur" were misleading, it’s here."
April 21, 2010
April 20, 2010
The Best Sign in the History of the World
Or a contender, anyway (hat tip to the Sister of the Flea).
Sign at the link.
British Airways sent a test flight into the ash cloud
It's a photo caption that reads like Quatermass.
Also: More from Eyjafjallajokull.
This is not an issue of free speech
George Galloway provides material support for terrorists. He should be welcomed to Canada then arrested at the border.
Failing that, JDL Canada is holding an anti-terror rally at his hearing next Monday in Toronto.
JDL Anti-Terror Rally at George Galloway Hearing Monday April 26th 8:30 AM Federal Court Building 180 Queen St. West
THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE OF FREE SPEECH.
THE ISSUE IS MATERIAL SUPPORT FOR TERROR GROUPS AND GEORGE GALLOWAY PROVIDES MATERIAL SUPPORT FOR TERROR GROUPS.
Where & When
Demonstration:
8:30 am Monday, April 26, 2010
Hearing: 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Federal Court Building
180 Queen Street West
*Bring Canadian and Israeli Flags
Close Combat Training
Kathy asks if this is the greatest commercial ever filmed. Possibly, if you are going for irony.
Over the top sincerity, by contrast...
If you scroll down at the AoSHQ post, Slack Power brings everything together.
Related somehow: Wet Goddess: Recollections Of A Dolphin Lover. Which, it turns out, exists.
April 19, 2010
Zaynab Khadr for Governor General of Canada
Blazing Cat Fur's suggestion is no worse than having FLQ supporters in the job. At least Governor General Khadr is keeping up with the times.
It think that last observation is racist unless printed on the right letterhead and with a French translation. In this case we call it "multiculturalism".
April 18, 2010
The rise of militainment
P.W. Singer puts scare quotes around the word "game" to suggest we be cautious using tactical multiplayer first-person shooters for training or recruitment.
Because heaven knows the Army couldn't use technologically adept young men who enjoy shooting bad guys.
Which, unless you are a commie who hates America, is clearly a result.
Mercenary
If Her Majesty will not make provision for the armed forces Her Majesty's subjects will have to make do.
Cash from the fund was also used to pay for operational welfare equipment, personal kit and to pay-off the mortgages of two members of 23 SAS killed in southern Afghanistan in an earlier deployment.
Engine check
An engine check on a Finnish F-18 shows the effects of ingesting volcanic dust from recent activity in Iceland.
One aircraft’s engines have been inspected so far using a boroscope, with melted ash clearly visible on its inside surface.
Images at the link.
A pertinent question
“If we are talking about coexistence and peace, why the [Palestinian] insistence that the territory they receive be ethnically cleansed of Jews? Why do those areas have to be Judenrein?”
Via Blazing Cat Fur.
An excellent idea
Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?
...
I can just see it now: You're in the airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion. Shortly thereafter, an announcement comes over the PA system, "Attention standby passengers, we now have a seat available on flight number.........."
Via Small Dead Animals.
April 17, 2010
Delegitimize, Double Standard, Demonize
Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem are the only two cities in the Middle East to have gay pride parades. Despite this (in fact, because of this), Israel is demonized at Toronto Gay Pride (hat tip to Gordon via Gay and Right).
And another hat tip to Gordon for Crossing the Line: The Intifada Comes to Campus.
Comic Book Cartography
Comic Book Cartography features a map of Krypton, a diagram of Batman's utility belt and a cutaway of the Avengers' Mansion (via io9).
Related: American states that never made it to the map.
April 16, 2010
Why we are losing
They've got the most often sensible J.K. Rowling.
Oh, I laughed at first
But then the possibility of a pig wool suit came to mind.
‘At first sight, people think they are sheep,’ Denise Cox, education co-ordinator, at Tropical Wings, said. ‘It is not until they turn around and you see their faces and snouts you realise they are in fact pigs.
April 15, 2010
Country Life
The Daily Mail rightly draws attention to Lieutenant Emma Spilsbury, now gracing the cover of Country Life in the Afghan sun.
But kudos too to photographer Rob Knight, aka Arkady001, for his "Girls Aloud - Sangin" inspiration and my favourite of Lt Spilsbury.
Burj Babil
As a matter of curiosity, I wonder just how many non-Muslims are in the forbidden, "holy" city of Mecca to design and build the Mecca Royal Clock Tower.
The Mecca Royal Clock Tower will be made up of 662 metres of concrete structure and a 155-metre crescent-topped metal spire, Mohammed al-Arkubi said at a press conference in Dubai.
Sufficiently related: Errors of history in the Koran.
The question of freedom
Theodore Dalrymple on a depressing, and perhaps sinister aspect of public commentary that ignores the question of freedom.
...
For liberals, it seems, any trampling on freedom or individual conscience is now justified if it conduces to an end of which they approve. Thus liberalism turns into its opposite, illiberalism.
Porn for the blind
When you hear "Braille porn" you know without being told that the artist is a Canadian woman, right?
Lisa Murphy of Toronto takes the pictures herself, then uses materials like clay, metal, cardboard to make a relief that's put into a machine that spits out formed plastic pages.
April 14, 2010
Luke 6:48
Scientists participating in the global warming hoax chose a bad spot to pitch their tent.
It turns out the sky isn't falling after all.
April 13, 2010
Caledonification
Mark Steyn, the police and political correctness the revaluation of all values.
RTWT for particulars. And conservatives, in case you haven't got the message, the police are not your friends. The police keep the peace. You know. Like the religion of peace.
Bread and circuses
First it is the Mob (blood pressure warning).
Then it is the Barbarians.
April 12, 2010
There's a brand new dance but I don't know its name
We are the goon squad and we're coming to town. Beep-beep.
Beep-beep (hat tip to Kathy).
Middle-earth is our world
Halls of Macademia does not like the look of it but I beg to disagree. The more cyclopean, Tolkienesque public art, the better.
The "Goddess of the North" will be made from 1.5 million tonnes of earth from the Shotton mine, near Cramlington. It will stand 34 metres - 10 metres higher than the Angel of the North - and will be 400 metres long.
The sculpture, also knows as Northumberlandia, will form the centrepiece of a 29 hectare public park on the Blagdon Estate.
Ruh-oh
Japan is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Public debt is expected to hit 200 percent of GDP in the next year as the government tries to spend its way out of the economic doldrums despite plummeting tax revenues and soaring welfare costs for its ageing population.
Not to worry, there is no problem as long as there are flows of money in the bond market, they say.
April 11, 2010
Glo-fi
Brendan McCarthy channels Steve Ditko as he creates "Fever", a new Spider-man/Doctor Strange series for Marvel, and invents Glo-fi along the way (via Warren Ellis).
Frank Brunner was drawing Doctor Strange by the time I was buying comic books from a spinner rack but these were true to Ditko's trippy, psychedelic parallel dimensions; I am delighted McCarthy is revisiting them.
You know how dumb the average guy is, right? Well, mathematically, by definition, half of them are even dumber than that.
The Church of the SubGenius has announced that the end of the world will take place on Monday, July 5, 2010 (hat tip to Ben).
All well and good. But I like the part where Scientologists don't get it.
Tentacular, tentacular!
Cthulhu dropped by Nate Anderson's office and left a manuscript.
In choose-your-own-adventure form (hat tip to CM).
"20,000 WORDS OF AWESOME. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PAY ME. I JUST WANT THE EXPOSURE SO I CAN MEET CHICKS. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO R'YLEH? ONE WORD: BORING."
The Life of J.R.R. Tolkien
Narrated by Judi Dench. In which Christopher Tolkien explains his father's philosophy including a passage on magic and "the machine" in Part 2.
April 10, 2010
Everything on the table
Doctor Zero thinks the unthinkable. But then, at the time of the Founding, what is now the unthinkable was then the blindingly obvious.
Such was the fate of Rome. RTWT, I am not certain he has reached the correct conclusion.
April 09, 2010
Iraq "collateral murder" video rebuttal
Scenes WikiLeaks edited out (hat tip to Bill).
Video at the link.
The video released by Wiki Leaks is EXTREMELY misleading, and propagating it as “murder” is borderline criminal. Their 17 minute version edited out any mention of hostile gunfire on the part of insurgents for the purpose of defaming U.S. Defence Forces. WikiLeak head Julian Assange has since reluctantly admitted to AK-47 and RPGs being present. To their credit, they did release a full 39 minute version, but for “research” purposes only. Their edited version tells a very different story.
0:26 The “Black van” dropping off possible insurgents.
0:46 “We got a target fifteen coming at you, it’s a guy with a weapon.”
1:05 “One of them has a weapon.”
1:27 Guy carrying AK-47, and other with RPG (no way it a tripod) that had previously fired on U.S. Troops. WikiLeak video distracts you with letter box about a camera Bag).
3:53 “Roger, be advised, there were some guys popping out with the AKs behind that dirt pile. Break.”
4:25 “Uh, location, I have about 12 to 15 dead bodies. Where else were you taking fire from?”
4:34 They had AK-47s and were to our East. So, where we were taking small arms fire, over.
4:59 “I also wanted to make sure you knew that we had a guy with an RPG crouching around the corner, Getting ready to fire on your location. That’s why we requested permission to engage.”
5:17 (IMPORTANT) “Six this is four, I got one individual looks like he’s got an RPG round laying underneath him. Break.” (Note: Four was at the scene of the shooting and found an RPG, of course wikileaks left that out).
5:43 “ I can hear small arms fire from your engagement area…”
6:10 “Right about where we engaged? Yeah, one of them with that RPG or whatever.”
6:19 “He’s got a weapon. Got an RP–, uh AK-47.”
6:34 “Roger, we have another individual with a weapon.”
The WikiLeaks transcription is poor in areas, as well. For instance, one part in their version they claim one guy said “F—-ing Prick”. It was not “prick, it was “break”. Not sure the word before it, sounded cut off.
USE OF CAMERAS: Should also note that a tactic used in battle is to take pictures using high powered lenses to gather intel on troop location, size, and armament. Photos would then be shared with the RPG carrier for more precise target acquisition. Not saying this was the case here, but that does happen. Tragic as it is, one should know better than to aim what looks like a weapon at ground troops with surveilling Apache Copters overhead, especially when standing next to insurgents carrying an RPG and AK-47s.
Range finding
Flea-readers will be shocked to learn Muslims are furious the British Army has been using cardboard cutout mosques for target practice (in full view of the motorway, apparently). The Army, vaginafied by current ideological fashion, claims it had no intention of causing offence (hat tip to Five Feet of Fury).
Which is a break with tradition. And common sense.
The moment is on my bucket list of TARDIS jaunts. I expect I could sell tickets.
It is high time to slam the doors shut and put up a no-vacancy sign
Ron Banerjee of Canadian Hindu Advocacy argues Canadian public and employer attitudes have been negatively influenced South Asian professionals thanks to Canada's irrational immigration policies.
But Canada does not have and will never have a Silicon Valley. Statistics show that Canada's 'South Asians' have lower incomes than white Canadians, and the only thing that immigration will accomplish is the growth of an angry embittered underclass.
This is because Canadian 'South Asians' are drawn from regions with lower education levels, high corruption, civil wars, and terrorism. America, on the other hand, has recruited predominantly from India's most industrially and technologically advanced areas, specifically Gujurat and South India.
Our often corrupt and poorly trained immigration bureaucrats control the assignment of points for skills, which differs from the US where American corporations call the shots. As a result, many immigrants arrive with impressive-sounding degrees and credentials which mean little in our workplace. In some parts of the world, these degrees can even be acquired from universities with small bribes.
Read the whole thing. Send it to your multicultural friends whose received opinions could do with a lesson in real cultural difference and, by extension, a genuine respect for cultural difference.
Related: Baron Bodissey may have found an unusually civic-minded man.
“If a Somali works as a bus driver or in construction, he’s entitled to bring his own family here. If a person is unemployed and receives income support, then the whole process becomes difficult. There will be a big bill to pay,” says the man from Espoo who moved to Finland in 1992.
Malcolm McLaren: Madame Butterfly
Malcolm McLaren, R.I.P.
Also: "Diaghilev of Punk" Malcolm McLaren on the South Bank Show in 1984, he was 37 at the time.
April 08, 2010
Support Israel at Mountain Equipment Coop Toronto
The following is a press release on behalf the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto for the attention of Mountain Equipment Coop member. It is an excellent store, let's help it stay in business with Israel (hat tip to Rochelle).
Online voting is now taking place for members of the MEC board and anti-Israel forces are trying to ensure the election of board members who endorse the BDS movement against Israel (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). Voting closes Friday, April 9 at 3 pm Toronto time.
Late last year, many of you travelled downtown to buy Israeli products and became MEC members in opposition to a boycott attempt against MEC for selling Israeli goods. The boycott was ultimately unsuccessful and the community effort resulted in record one-day sales.
If you are a member, now is the time to defeat anti-Israel forces:
Please consider the following:
* Click here to vote YES on all MEC Special Resolutions: Five special resolutions are being brought forward prior to the MEC annual meeting. Approving these resolutions will change MEC's governance rules in order to make it much more difficult for anti-Israel forces to hijack future MEC annual meetings.
* Vote for candidates who will stand up for Israel: While we do not endorse specific candidates, you can read a guest BUYcott blog from a prospective board member who has expressed his commitment to combat any anti-Israel resolution. Click here to read who the Palestine Solidarity Network (which supports an Israel boycott) suggests voting for.
Please forward this e-mail to your friends and family. Help protect MEC from abuse by anti-Israel activists. If you have any questions regarding the voting process, please contact Dan Schloss, Pacific Region Manager, Advocacy, Canada-Israel Committee at danschloss@cicweb.ca or 604-622-4242.
Thank you for your continued support.
Alan Winer
Chair, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
Kim Jong-Il mode
The suits consist of an overall-style zipped-up tunic and matching trousers, usually in khaki or blueish-grey.
"The reason is that the august image of the Great General, who is always wearing the modest suit while working, leaves a deep impression on people's mind in the world," it said. "To sum it up, that is because his image as a great man is so outstanding."
The article quoted an unidentified French fashion expert as saying world fashion follows Kim Jong-Il's style.
"Kim Jong-Il mode which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide is something unprecedented in the world's history," the stylist was quoted as saying.
Who owes his greatness to his country's ruin
Virtually every extra job created under Labour has gone to a foreign worker.
The Tories seized on the revelation as evidence that the Government has totally failed to deliver its pledge of 'British jobs for British workers'.
...
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green revealed unpublished figures showing there are almost 730,000 fewer British-born workers in the private sector than in 1997.
April 07, 2010
Don’t mess with us
This is more like it (with a grateful hat tip to Rochelle).
Meir Weinstein, national director of the JDL Canada, said there is a “disturbing trend” of racial tension between Arabs and Jews in Ottawa, highlighted by an apparently anti-Semitic attack on a pair of Carleton University students in Gatineau earlier this week.
But regardless of that attack, “we feel that things (in Ottawa) are over the top already,” said Weinstein.
“There is very high anxiety in Ottawa,” he said. “It’s almost non-stop the activities and vilification against the Jewish people.”
Read the whole thing. Det. John Byers of the Ottawa police hate crimes section takes clueless public official of the day award.
Further from Rochelle.
QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak today issued the following statement on the April 4th machete attack on Jewish and Pro-Israel Carleton University students.
“The recent machete attack on Jewish and pro-Israel Carleton University students is as unacceptable as it is upsetting. No matter how strongly one’s emotions may run on any issue, there is no place in a civilized province like Ontario for resorting to such a savage act of violence and intimidation.
“As recent events such as Israel-Apartheid Week remind us, there is a disturbing market for anti-Semitic activists and their rhetoric at too many Ontario Universities. For these activists religious bigotry is acceptable as long as it is directed at people of the Jewish faith. It is sad, but not surprising, that this double standard in human rights is now prompting acts of violence
“The Ontario PC Caucus will always be a champion of human rights such as free speech. But we are equally clear: anti-Semitism is un-Canadian, and we condemn it fully and forcefully. I call on the Premier and Attorney General, as well as their counterparts in Quebec, to do everything in their power to ensure that the people behind this attack face the full consequences of the law.”
Careful calling the savages, savages. That sort of talk attracts the human rights Star Chambers.
Blood suckers
The University of Hertfordshire in England is set to offer an MA in Vampire Literature (via Agent Bedhead).
In case anyone is still unclear on the historic decadence of our elites, some presentations from "Open Graves, Open Minds" a conference/segue as prequel to the degree.
- The Brutal and Bloody: Representations of the ChupaCabra in Rudolfo Anaya's Curse of the ChupaCabra by Prof. Suryendu Chakraborty (Krishnagar Women's College).
- Fundamentalism, Hybridity and Remapping the Vampire body: Postmodern Vampirism and the Presidency of George W. Bush by Dr. Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland).
- Zombies and Ninjas and Class, Oh My!: Marxist Paradigms in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Julia S. Fullman (California State University, Fullerton, USA)
Not that I am against vampires, far from it, but I am a firm believer in applied vampire studies. Ruining good fun in the name of a stale dated poke at George Bush appears to be the best academia can manage.
Isaiah 17:12-14
Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai announces Israel is distributing millions of biochemical war protection kits.
"Every family in Israel can receive these kits at home and be instructed on how to use them by Israeli postal workers, at an average cost of 25 shekels (five dollars), or pick them up free of charge at post office counters."
Michael Coren on the Ottawa machete attack
Via Blazing Cat Fur.
Update: Mark Steyn cites Ezra Levant.
Kathy Shaidle on the CJC working behind the scenes.
Hell, do I even talk to the cops at this point? No doubt I'll be just be told, in a bored, weary voice, that they "can't guarantee my safety." If the Ottawa constabulary can't be bothered to "guarantee the safety" of a 6' tall, 120 pound blonde American with a high public profile and a couple of ex-/future Presidents in her Rolodex, then I'm obliged to assume that I am well and truly ****ed.
Oh, and to the young (Jewish) blogger who recently "asked" me angrily, "What does anybody need a gun for?" -- do you get it now?
Do you get one now?
And Fenris Badwulf learns by example.
Robert Spencer: Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck are not good for the Anti-Jihad movement
April 06, 2010
Some of the guys who tried to kill us are Carleton students
Yesterday, at about 1:45am, Carleton University journalism student and VP Student Issues Nick Bergamini, and his Israeli roommate Mark Klibanov came close to being beheaded in the name of peace.
In Ottawa, the capital city of Canada and the global capital of ill informed, ill educated, smirking moral superiority. In Ottawa, long time appeaser and enabler of any dictatorship, any savagery, provided it takes a poke at the great republic to our south. Confederates, Nazis, Stalinists, it was all as nothing if it got you access in Ottawa, if it got you invited to the right cocktail parties.
The obscene face of fascism, the night side of Ottawa's pretensions and proprieties, the enforcers for its worship of Establishment received opinion, used to be Heritage Front bully boys who got a wink and a nod from the cops.
Now it is a grinning corsair with a cutlass.
Quickly, we both responded that yes we were Zionists. All of a sudden we were surrounded by 10-15 men who began to shout at us in Arabic. We tried to back out and run away. All of a sudden, I was struck in the back of the head. I'm not sure if it was a fist, a rock or a pipe but it left me dazed and bleeding.
We quickly ran back to the bar and stood beside the bouncers. The crowd of anti-Israel thugs dispersed.
About 10 minutes later, assuming that it was safe, we began to walk home. We were walking through a parking lot when a car pulled up next to us. The driver shouted "I fucking hit you, you Jew."
We stood our ground. Quickly we had three guys around us. We were able to push them away. As the cowards that they were, they retreated. Then I heard, shouts of "Open the trunk!" One of them opened the trunk and I saw glistening in the street light the reflection of a 12-inch machete. "Fucking Jew," he shouted. I began to run for my life as he was only 5 or 6 feet away.
I ran, and as I looked back, I saw the long shiny blade slicing through the air about 12 inches from my neck. I ran as fast I could and, thanks to my grade 9 track and field training, got away.
People who were around the scene said the blade came within inches of my neck.
Now, the debate on campuses has reached the next level. In this country, people are no longer safe if they support Israel. But you know what? I will never take back my beliefs. I support Israel 100 per cent.
But I will say this. Some of the guys who tried to kill us are Carleton students and I recognize who they are. What is this country coming to?
UPDATE: Many people have been asking if I've filed a police report. Just wanted to let you all know that yes, we certainly did and I have full confidence that the authorities will deal with it accordingly.
In this country, people are no longer safe if they support Israel.
But criticize latter day Nazis at your peril; at the risk of your job, at the risk of your liberty, at the risk of your life.
Links at Take Back Your School via Blazing Cat Fur.
Michael Coren: It was only a matter of time.
...
The Ottawa police are investigating and Nick is determined to continue his work and not compromise on his politics. Welcome to the free exchange of ideas at our publicly-funded universities and the “safe spaces” that other Ottawa students screamed about when they prevented Ann Coulter from speaking last week.
Update: The National Post is reporting with more details. One important revision concerns the location of the attacks in Gatineau (formerly Hull), and not a bar on Elgin or in the Market in Ottawa as I had thought. Gatineau is a predominantly French speaking city just across the river from Ottawa in Quebec. This means the investigation for these attempted murders are now the responsibility of the Quebec police.
I would laugh but the bitter sarcasm would melt my keyboard.
My suspense of disbelief just gave out
Think back to the most farcical, absurd and exaggerated dystopian fiction of your Kafkas or your Orwells, write them up as the news and you are left with an accurate description of contemporary public policy in England.
Take Student Voice, for example, a government scheme based on the premise that children are entitled to a role in the management and delivery of their own education.
As a result, one teacher failed to be appointed after being labelled ‘Humpty Dumpty’ by a child.
Another was humiliated by being told to sing her favourite song; she refused and didn’t get the job. A third was asked by children on the interview panel how this candidate might impress the judges of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.
These are the same people we have entrusted with the economy, the environment and the war.
It is a very good thing our enemy is hobbled by a culture and an ideology which render him functionally retarded because otherwise we would be in bigger trouble than we already are. Perhaps the best thing to do now is hope our civilization is overwhelmed by people who still know who they are, what they are about and what they want; the Chinese, for instance.
Yet more: Now teachers are ordered to smile at their pupils.
Staff have also been told to ensure they are not boring students by setting work that is too hard.
The directives appeared in a memo detailing student 'entitlements' and feedback from 'student voice discussions' at the comprehensive Buile Hill Visual Arts College in Salford.
Teachers said it made them feel 'undervalued and undermined'.
As opposed to feeling outraged and then doing something about it.
The family that prays together, slays together
Yet something else to add to the new normal: Family jihad training tourism.
Parents travelling with children have in the past raised less suspicion than single men or women travelling to and from Germany.
April 05, 2010
Good news and bad news
The bad news is Western civilization is broke. The good news is the reason we are broke (it is something we can fix, if we so choose).
It turns out our economies - and our economics - are fine. Incredibly robust, in fact, considering we have gone on for so long pissing away so much money on civil servants (via Lumpy, Grumpy and Frumpy).
Take Toronto's public transit workers, for example.
...
The list revealed 89 operators, and 14 station collectors, earned more than $100,000. A total of 724 TTC employees, including 134 non-management staff, earned more than $100,000. The top earner at the TTC was chief general manager Gary Webster, who raked in $280,037.
Of the 14 station collectors who made the list, down from 21 last year, Yasin Saleemi earned the highest salary, taking home $114,520 -- about $10,000 less than the top collector last year.
Station collectors, for Flea-readers who have yet to enjoy the thrill ride that is the Toronto subway system, are the trolls who exchange your cash for subway tokens. You could quite literally train a monkey to do the same job. And the monkey, at least, would smile at you as he took your money.
Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones Review
Hat tip to Bill. Same content warning as the last.
April 04, 2010
The 11th coming
Today, I join millions of others in celebrating the regeneration and the 11th coming.
- Chris Myrick
The new Doctor Who features, amongst other things, a new look TARDIS.
Moffat has revealed that the out-going Doctor, David Tennant, left a sealed envelope for his successor, in the manner of a departing prime minister. After the first episode in this series, it is clear the advice was powerful stuff.
It was stupendous.
Delia Derbyshire :Ziw-zih Ziw-zih OO-OO-OO
April 03, 2010
Sprockets: Germany's most disturbing home videos
Liebe meine Abschminke!
Where the grapes of wrath are stored
Purple Avenger takes a trip home made melancholy not only for its purpose but for observations made along the way. These notes from the "recovery" find precious little economic activity.
Read this and remember the same villains who produced the problem have in their hearts a religious fervour to destroy the automobile and destroy the long distance trucking that is the lifeblood of a continent.
- A lot of billboards are still empty. This was true on I95 as well as some of the alternate routes (like rt17 and various back roads through WV and VA I wandered off onto to avoid rolling into the D.C. vortex at 5pm rush hour. I guess out of business businesses aren't buying advertising.
- Many still existing painted billboards are quite faded and haven't seen fresh paint in a long time.
- At some exits, once thriving large truck stops doors are shuttered. This is usually when there's another competing one at the same exit.
Read the whole thing: This is real journalism, verging on social history in the raw.
One hundred years ago the land empires of Russia and Germany (two empires in Germany's case) were ascendent as railroads made rivers of steel into land once navigable - if at all - only by river or (latterly) by canal. It was the end of the line (if you will excuse the metaphor) for the sea empires of Britain and France and Holland but only the foreshadowing of the interstate empire of America to come.
Both the legislative and executive branches of the United States government are now in the hands of men "people" who want nothing more than to see destroyed the interstate empire made possible by the automobile. It is no coincidence these same people huddle on the coasts and imagine the only transportation worth mention is the one which allows them to fly over the commoners toiling below them.
If these men have their way, the desolation will make fine fodder for some latter day Steinbeck; if only the aesthetic guardians of the Left find some way to blame the next dust bowl on George W. Bush. But then their vengeful climate change sky god has that angle covered.
The changing demographic of London
Arranging deck chairs on the HMS Götterdämmerung.
Joanna Lumley on MOD's Gurkha smear campaign
The video tags blame New Labour. Joanna Lumley blames the Ministry of Defence.
April 02, 2010
Michelle Malkin: It's Time For A Spartacus Revolution!
Via Five Feet of Fury.
The Muppets: Stand By Me
Hat tip to various spots in the dextrosphere.
April 01, 2010
Your government is evil
The only man (briefly) held to account for the massacre over Lockerbie is celebrating his birthday in a Libyan mansion, eight months after he was released from prison and five months after we were promised he would be dead.
Whatever happens to this man, the hundreds murdered in the skies over Lockerbie still fell screaming and in terror to their deaths, never able to say goodbye to their loved ones. There has been no justice for the dead. There shall be no justice so long as Her Majesty the Queen allows evil men to govern in her name.
The hell with Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi, he is in the service of a demon and it shall claim him soon enough. The hanging needs to start at Westminster and that farce of a parliament in Edinburgh.
Ban the burka
Pending a vote in Parliament later this month, Belgium is set to be the first European "nation" to ban the burka.*
...
The text of the new law does not specifically mention burkas but makes it illegal for anyone to wear clothing ‘that covers all or most of the face’ in any public place.
* "Nation", indeed. To cite Charles de Gaulle, Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French. I am delighted to observe it is still working.
Meanwhile: Lest we forget what brought about this cultural contretemps (via Gates of Vienna).
Welcome to the entire Western world.
Eyeful Tower
Hideous, projectile vomit as architecture.*
* I am in a mood today, apparently.
You should not drink and bake
160 greatest Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).