A World Without Capitalism

Butz. Greeds!

We must stomp out...greed!

Greed isn't just tied to capitalism. Greed comes in many forms. Say the progressive utopia comes and most if not all of our lives is governed by the state (logical end my friend, logical end). Would people who find ways to hoard food (because of rationing) be 'greedy?'

Next time you hear some one drone on about 'greed' slap them off the side of the head, will ya?

Gaffe Machine Trudeau And Piers Morgan Rests With FIsh

Trudeau was recently caught on video swearing at a boxing charity of some sort. The usual excuses came up to defend him. From 'we're all human' to 'the conservatives are making much out of nothing.'

Well, here's the thing. Yes, he is human but he's aiming to be a leader of a country. Sweating like that not only shows poor judgment but immaturity to the extend of being unable to control emotions and passion.

That's the difference. We don't accept it from our CEO's, principals, and other leaders in our communities so why in the hell would you excuse the leader (and I use the term loosely) of the Liberal party of Canada?

My wife, hardly into politics, has noticed, as a teacher, he makes a little too many mistakes for a guy in his position.

But hey. The Liberals thought he'd be swell to repair their brand.

/shakes head.

***

Piers Morgan signed off on that show he took over from Larry King. But not before he made some outrageous claims and spewed statistics easily refutable on gun control. Guy can't help himself.

The part I found galling was the part where he seemed to espouse guns should only be in the hands of 'trained' people and out of the hands of 'civilians.'

First of all, the first part. Bull shit. A people should NEVER be disarmed. Ever. 

Especially as a result of the action of criminals.Gun control is not a result of free and responsible citizens shooting at each other but often the work of mentally disturbed individuals and criminals.

It makes absolutely no sense on any level (and one need not to invoke the NRA here) to control guns based on this faulty premise. It's irrational and driven by emotions.

Second, asshole, we are NOT CIVILIANS.

We are FREE VOTING CITIZENS.

Huge fucking difference you statist son of a bitch.

Americans are right on this one.

Why Can't Progressives Throw A Ball?

Di Blasio threw out the first pitch at the Mets game and was booed.

Boy, that didn't take long. I don't get the mindset of a New Yorker. They vote for a socialist dink and then boo him?

Anyway.

That's the last of his problems. Love the fist pump at the end.

Man, even I could get the ball up to 70-75 mph at one point in my life.



And who could forget this gem?



Athletes they ain't.

Suzuki Lies

And has been at it for quite some time.

Article in Le Quebecois Libre dating back to 2000.

We can a different spin on the nature of things.

Humans lie. 

Another view here.

UncleAdolph knows.

***

And they become evil when they are righteous. Notice now the new theme among the climate change crowd. It's time to put deniers in prison. Some are calling for special courts be set up, because you know, the human race is at stake.

Geez, what's the next step from that?

Line 'em up before a firing squad and shoot 'em?

Laugh.

We're not that far off from someone taking such a stance. 

Movie Clip Of The Night

PQ: Linguistic Racists

As Pauline continues to showcase her impeccable credentials on ignorance, I'd like to lay down a basic fact here.

She and her ilk keep saying they have 'nothing against the English language.' This should make pause for anyone with 1/3 of a semi-functional brain infested with corn and shit. One, whenever you hear something like this to explain a position or as a preface to an argument, you know it's bull. Second, they do, in keeping with this, have something 'against the English language' otherwise why keep trying to enact laws to suppress it?

What they don't understand is it's a form of racism. Linguistic racism. They can cry blue in the face about how it's not so but it is. 

Let's get one thing straight. The PQ don't give a shit or rat's ass about individual freedoms and rights. Where it's an inconvenience, they will simple badly play Machiavellian by amending or adding parts to a Charter; just like tin pot dictators. They will smear shit all over it and proclaim, 'democracy!' but it's shit-stained democracy.

When Pauline talks about 'Quebecers,' as she rubs shit all over her charter ideas, we know damn well she doesn't mean the rest of us.

So for that, she can lick the shit off her charter.

***

The PQ position on language and culture isn't anarchy.

It's CHAOS.

Italy To Impose Salary Caps On Goverment 'Companies'

Now that's a salary cap I can rally around!

If only we can do this in Canada.

Start with the CBC.

Pauline Marois: Shut Your Mouth

The Rock takes on Marois.



I promise to ban 'bon week-end.'

Question

If blacks in the USA prefer being called African-American why aren't blacks in Canada called African-Canadians...hmm....eh?

I needed something to get to 200 posts for the month.

Sunday Night Music

With Johnny Thunders (ne Genzale). Thunders played with the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers.

Sunday Herbs: Oregano

You may have noticed watching cooking shows on television or the internet as well as reading recipes in a book or magazine ingredients calling for "Greek" or "Italian" and "Mexican" oregano.

What's the difference?

They basically fall into two categories Mediterranean (which includes, Greece, Spain, Italy, Turkey and North Africa) and Mexican.

Italian oregano is probably the most used and popular because, as the link explains, it provides a milder taste thus making it more versatile.

Women Versus Feminists

Sounds about right to me.

Behind every control freak or hysterical progressive who wants to ban words and who can't handle someone's differing opinion lies a scared, little, vacuous person who had their feewings hurt at some point in their tired lives and they never overcame it. The rest of us have to suffer for the lack of balls they lack. So they project their miseries onto society. And now they have websites to voice their screeds. The go through life with a microscope and magnifying glass looking for demons and monsters; goblins and ghosts.

In the end, they're just, well, complainers.

Quote Of The Day

Heard on Sedano and Stink on ESPN:

"Obamacare isn't a law; it's a mindset."

BP Oil Spill Parody

Waiting For Treatment Costs Canadians

A few years back I waited nine hours at the Children's Hospital for my daughter. At the time, I suggested to my wife an study considering the amount of hours lost and its impact on the economy.

Currently in Canada, the Fraser Institute is the only think-tank I'm aware of that consistently and regularly studies Canada's much adored public health system. Unfortunately, it's papers are usually dismissed more for being conservative and less for the content it provides.

To me, it is helpful to know another view on things. How else to know how and what to fix, amend and adjust in the system?

And so it is Fraser has looked at the cost of waiting for treatment in our system. 

Conservatively, $1.2 billion. On the higher end, a whopping $3600.

Or $1200 per person. You add that to the average cost for health per capita (at $4522 according to the OECD and $4443 with WHO published on Wiki) and the cost ends up (assuming it's valid to add the two) of about $6700 per person - second to the United States. If we add the more liberal estimate and suddenly we're in U.S. territory). Now granted, there are wait times in other countries so for all I know it could keep Canada in the top 6 or 8 in terms of spending.

Nonetheless, one could reasonably ask, given the cost which is among the highest in the world, are we getting bang for our buck. My belief is no but this is not the point of this post.

Marciano Versus Ali Simulated Fight

I don't know how realistic the simulation of two epic heavyweight fighters. For starters, the old 'they're from two different eras' is bound to come up. The other is the quality of fighters each fought. The charge is the talent available to fight Marciano was mediocre thus helping him achieve his undefeated status. Still, that's not his fault. Like all sports, your dominance is judged against your peers. In this way, Ty Cobb is still to be considered dominant just like Marciano should be. That Cobb never faced a fast-ball pitcher like Randy Johnson is not helpful nor does it impact the fact Cobb is one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball. For his part, Ali had to deal with the likes of a thuggish Sonny Liston, and of course Joe Frazier and George Foreman - two great ferocious boxers.

Another issue, and one much more valid, is the size difference. At 6 foot 3 and 225 lbs, Ali was significantly bigger than the 5 foot 11 190lbs Marciano (like Joe Louis). They never would have met since Marciano is more like a cruiserweight by today's standards.

Ali, clearly, was a gifted boxer whereas Marciano was what we could call a 'brawler' with one of the heaviest punches in boxing history. Logically, Ali should take this fight.

Alas, logic sometimes has no place in sports where intangibles like 'determination' and 'heart' come into play. As well as the flawless execution of a game plan.

The thing about this simulation that stood out for me, given the weight and height differences, is the only strategy Marciano could employ was an "absorption" (as soccer teams sometimes do when faced with a highly efficient offense) one where he would have to take punches without giving up a major blow. For his attack, he would have to simply pound the body.

Apparently, this strategy worked according to the simulated fight:

The Hypocrisy Of Leland Yee From NRO

This Leland Yee story is remarkable. Some thoughts from Williamson at NRO.

Progressives like to talk about what government ought to do; conservatives are inclined to immure that conversation within an architecture of skepticism about what government can do. The paraphrase of Immanuel Kant — ought implies can — is fundamental to the conservative view of government. James Madison famously observed that “if men were angels, no government would be necessary.” But he also understood that men do not become angels once they win elections, become police, or are appointed to positions of power. 

Adam Smith’s formula for prosperity — “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice” — is the very modest ambition that conservatives aim for. Limited government is the tool by which government can be made to do good without necessarily being good, or being composed of good men.

When a conservative suffers from a moral failing, it is taken as an indictment of conservatism itself, even though conservatism in the Anglo–Protestant tradition is founded upon the expectation that moral failing is universal. In that sense, every Scott DesJarlais tells conservatives what we already know: that man is a fallen creature, and that, contra the Obamacare regime, there are no exemptions to be handed out from that condition, no waivers from human nature. The progressive view, on the other hand, is that our politics and our institutions could be channels of moral action and reliably ethical arbiters of such ill-defined standards as “fairness” and “social justice,” if only we put the right people in power.



 

Democrats Do Crime Better

I've linked and spoken about how the majority of convicted felons are Democrats. Since 2010 convicted Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2-1 margin 43-21.

From 2000-2009, Democrats led by a wide margin of 58-38.

That's 101-59 since 2000 for those keeping score.

But this.

This has to not only be a script in the making, but the epitome of progressive Democrat criminality.

A gun-control freak gun-running.

"The arrest of state Sen. Leland Yee shook California political watchers Wednesday, but for followers of Bay Area crime it was the arrest of a San Francisco figure known as "Shrimp Boy" that caught their attention.

Both Yee and Raymond Chow, AKA "Shrimp Boy," were arrested in a serial of raids in a sweeping public corruption probe.

Chow was at the center of organized crime in San Francisco’s Chinatown for decades, according to federal court documents. On his Facebook and Twitter accounts, he bills himself as a reformed gangster who now advocates on behalf of children."

Price-less.

Progressive Economics Logic

Not sure what to make of this silly mess.

"Many of the southern states that have no state income tax or have low taxes do so on the backs of the states that pay much more in federal taxes. Governors like Texas Rick Perry make the rounds attempting to bring business to their states. They do it under the pretext of these states having better business environments because of low taxes and regulations. They should note they can have low taxes because they are subsidized by the federal government and the poor. "

Right.

Comment:

Southern states that have no income tax: Texas and Florida

Not exactly a trend in the South, so why did he specify southern states? Why didn't he just say "many of the states that have no income tax"? What does being southern have to do with his crackpot theory?

Neurscience Marvel

"22-year-old woman from the Netherlands who suffersfrom a chronic bone disorder -- which has increased the thicknessof her skull from 1.5cm to 5cm, causing reduced eyesight and severeheadaches -- has had the top section of her skull removed andreplaced with a 3D printed implant."

Detroit Cost Inefficiencies; Cut Corporate Welfare

So. Lemme get this straight it costs the city of Detroit $32 to process a $30 ticket and their solution is to increase the fines?

/face palm.

Fine. Increase it to $40. Soon enough the cost will be $42. If I understand the mindset of a bureaucrat correctly, the increase will be seen as a profit and with a profit they will demand a higher wage and more benefits.

I jest. Sorta.

Just outsource it. I bet you a private company can do it for under $10. There is ZERO incentive to be cost-conscience in the government But it's a different matter in the private sector.

***

Republicans from their part will have to once and for all act like true conservatives should they win in November and that includes most notable on fiscal matters.

From Investors Business Daily:

If Republicans are going to get truly serious about cutting government spending, they are going to have to snip the umbilical cord from the Treasury to corporate America.  You can't reform welfare programs for the poor until you've gotten Daddy Warbucks off the dole. Voters will insist on that — as well they should.

Social welfare has its problems, but corporate welfare is worse since it subsidizes people with capital and access to it.

Wanna cut fat? $1.2 trillion in corporate welfare is a good start.

Same up here. Stop sending money to companies who operate in losing industries. 

Here Comes Thorium

Environmentalists hate it. Of course.

Harry Reid: Conspiracy Curmudgeon

Speaking of lying leftists, Harry Reid is at it again. When he's not taking his Dale Gribble act about the Koch or blaming Republican policies of the past on Russia aggression or calling Americans liars he's taken to calling them idiots. Notice this gem: 'There's no delay, hundreds of people have failed to register." In ONE sentence he obliterates his own specious point.

Quote Of The Day

Obamacare anecdotes:

"We had a corporate meeting the other day - part of the news is the new company policy regarding tobacco usage. If you declare yourself as a non-tabacco user (and get the resulting cheaper insurance), you will can be randomly tested. This random testing also holds true for your spouse.

So in my case, my wife can be called in by my company to be tested (via a swab) for nicotine usage.
Of course I can see the reasons for doing so - since a minority will lie on the form and continue to smoke, but this method does seem awfully heavy-handed and not conducive to employee morale. eg - you trust me with millions of dollars of computer systems - but not enough to take my word on a form.

(note - I do smoke on a rare occasion but I'm definitely not a smoker)
And on a side note, I mentioned the above, blaming the coming nanny state. And one of my lib friends said it's actually the result of small government and conservatives."

Sad as this is and just part of the natural order of progressive things, the last part is most disturbing.

Thought Of The Day

PJ O'Rourke is superior to Jon Stewart.

That is all.

Marois Overplayed Her Card

I don't know, I get the feeling there's a real backlash against the Pq agenda. Marois may have overplayed her ethnic nationalist, populist card. I'm hearing people are registering in record numbers and the thinking is it's all good for the Liberals. The Natives - for the first time I believe - may take to the polls as well. It's also looking like sovereignists - who already had a tenuous leg to stand on - think the price may be too high as the charges of xenophobia and racism is getting a little to hot for their taste. Truth be told, there are some Pequistes who are pretty mild-mannered despite their misguidance.

Again, I look at the candidates and conclude the stature of Couillard is superiour to that the PQ offer in Marois.

Let's hope on April 7 the Liberals win. If they do, it will once and for all force the PQ into the 21st century.

Quote Of The Day: Fear The People

"Frankly, and I say this as the son of a retired deputy, mostcops these days are just scared enough to be dangerous.

Note that you don't hear very much about police killing heavily-armed paramilitary soldiers following six-hour firefights; it's three patrolmen vs. one disoriented homeless guy who isn't resisting in the first place. They fear the public in the same way that farmers "fear" livestock; they're wary of a nip, but they don't respect the hogs.

At the risk of putting myself on yet another watchlist, this won't change until police are really, truly afraid of the public. Not of individual targets, but of people in general.

How different would the Kelly Thomas event have turned out if two weeks prior a crowd of onlookers had dragged police off of a suspect they were beating and pummeled the hell out of them? What if the SWAT team conducting the raid on the mayor of Berwyn Heights was confronted by a few neighbors with shotguns? And at the risk of sounding like I'm advocating something I'm not, what if the next time a cop shoots a dog in someone's front yard the owner returns fire, kills the cop, and is acquitted?

Police won't respect non-police until the public in general loses its fear of the police."

Rise Libertarian Canada

Canadian liberarianism at Von Mises.

Oldest Artificial Limb

Was found in 1910 dating back to 300 B.C. Rome.

Looks. Heavy.

Japanese Tsunami Footage

Bay Area Toll Authority Know How To Waste

Citizen:"I want to talk to your superiors!"
Bureaucrat:"Follow me!"
Citizen:"This can't be right!"
Bureau.:"Why?"
Cit.:"That lemming looks like it's retarded!"

"The Bay Area Toll Authority spent $9.4 million to build a temporary entrance so the Bay Bridge's bike path could be ready when the new eastern span opened to traffic in September.

And now - after less than seven months - the half-mile-long connector is being torn down to make way for a new, permanent gateway."

Why not just wait and do it right the first time? Why waste money?

Russia Sanctions Canada

"In the Ukraine crisis, the cycle of diplomatic fallout from Russia’s annexation of Crimea continues. Russia retaliated against Canadian sanctions today by imposing travel bans on 13 Canadians, including government and opposition MPs, House Speaker Andrew Scheer and Ukrainian-Canadian representative Paul Grod."

Good. Take it as a badge of honor.

Nothing was sweeter than winning hockey gold on Russian soil.

Just. Like. 1972.

Putin's favorite video:

Democrats Caught Taking Bribes

It's funny how Democrats actually get caught for their indiscretions. 

Look, Koch!

/Runs away. Trips. Gets up. Runs away. Falls into abyss.

Progressives Are Not Free Thinkers

It has been my pleasure to discover the libertarians so derided by the Lords of Derp on the left, are an eclectic diverse bunch of free-thinkers. So many ideas and thoughts emanate from their ranks it makes for engaging and often spirited discourse. Whereas the left pretty much argues from the premise the state is needed and moves from there, libertarians wonder about how things can work not with 'no government' but with less of it. Or from my point of view, less reliance on it.

Not all the ideas are necessarily good or practical but a good number of them are so rooted in realism and intelligent thought, it should draw the attention of any person blessed with a functioning brain and mind.

Libertarians - classical liberals and sometimes on certain issues even conservatives - tend to think outside the box. They're the outliers of thinkdom. If they seem so unrealistic from the perspective of liberals - who tend to think inside the box - it's because the latter simply can no longer fathom a world where they don't start a policy debate with 'the government should."

We, on the other hand, choose the "I should" as an option.

I invite people to begin considering this perspective. It will open your eyes to so many possibilities it's actually gratifying as an intellectual exercise.

Liberals are fond of "thinking independent" (and they're right) only problem is their independence is wallowing in groupthink.

****

"The DGAC is made up of fifteen academics, culled mainly from the fields of nutrition, public health, and medicine. The role of the DGAC, which has met every five years for more than two decades, is to come up with recommendations that can be used “to help people choose an overall healthy diet that works for them.”

Nothing good can come out of 15 000 academics looking to impose their views on people.

Nothing.

What it will do, predictably, is erode personal liberty further.

THIS is what the world of Big Brother in 1984 is all about.

We're All Individualists - Until We Aren't

"Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws — always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up. Because not one of those people said: Please pass this so that I won't be able to do something I know I should stop. Nyet, tovarishchee, was always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them for their own good."

Robert A. Heinlein.

Individualism does not mean, to me anyway, to think of oneself as a means to an end. Being an individualist doesn't absolve you of your responsibilities to your family and the community at large. Au contraire, it demands more of you to be a good neighbor. The argument of individualism, thus, is if the individual is weak and is not their own moral agent, then there is no strong community as defined by collectivism. This is probably why so many government programs designed to help actually falter or fail made ultimately worse by enabling the meek.

Australia Gets It

Unlike the thin-skinned, tyrannical numbskulls who think suppression of free speech is somehow healthy, the AG George Brandis as well as PM Tony Abbott are capable of thinking deeper into the abstract about the sanctity of preserving freedom of speech and expression.

Tanya Pliberseck pimps out the usual bull shit line of 'the law protects communities from the destructive effects of hate speech while preserving free speech.'

Utter horse shit.

Either you have free speech or you don't. 

The second you tinker with it you've compromised its essence.

Modern Britannia Is Vile

Vile.

Comments are interesting.

I mostly concur.

Progressivism is evil.

There Oughta Be A Credit Score By Ideology Survey

In reading the various comments on conservative, liberal/progressive/socialist, libertarian as well as those that believe to be political neutral or independent (libertarians are probably most free-thinking and consistent people) websites, a thought came to my mind.

Wouldn't it be interesting (for fun of course) to know the credit score and history of each side?

Something tells me the average commenter at Huffington, Kos or Democratic Underground have terrible credit - if any. How else to explain their attachment and cultist commitment to the state when it comes to money? They can't manage their own money so pass it off to a bureaucrat! That's how I interpret it, anyway.

Whereas, National Review probably has a community with strong credit history. Libertarians are too diverse a group to label but I'm guessing they fall in the responsible bracket when it comes to money. This group extols the virtues of having more money in your pocket as opposed to in the hands of mere mortals in the government so ripe for corruption.

Bill Nye The Sophist Guy

It's fun to be worried!

On a recent episode of the libertarian talk show The Independents on FoxBusiness, the topic focused on climate change/global warming. The guest list included Bjorn Lomborg, Bill Nye and Daniel J. Weiss (from the Center for America Progess. Remember kids, anything with the word 'progress' in its title you can safely disregard).

I knew things were off to a roughl start when Nye came out swinging by being surprised that a show's hosts on FOX weren't 'deniers.'

It was all downhill from there as Nye hurled a 'Manhattan will sink' strawman to dreaming of inventing 'very big batteries.' Nye would have been better served leaving the idealism at the door and engage with strict facts.

Nye never got back on track relying on sophistry and emotions to plead his case.

He chose to take a defensive, even condescending, approach as if he were talking to school kids. It was an insult not just to the panel who asking real-world, pertinent questions, but to the audience including myself. I further think the panel took the high ground with the guests by not adding more politics to an already politicized and highly emotional topic.

When asked specific questions regarding cost/benefits analysis (thus exposing the possible impractical costs associated with their dubious solutions), all he could do was, aside from look stunned, respond along the lines, with a smug tone, of the usual we must 'do something, anything' vaudeville act. I feel we can be forgiven if we view 'the cost would be greater if we do nothing' argument with a healthy skepticism. That's how we end up with bad public policy that unleashes unintended consequences.

All I want answered is why can't people agree on facts but question if policies are bad for whatever reasons? Maybe they have good, efficient solutions but I'm not hearing them; or at least not on this night.

Moreover, he invoked the myth of 'consensus.'

The consensus thing is interesting. I merely look at Galileo - I know, the past but a good example- to see what consensus can look like. In fact, aren't we supposed to challenge consensus? Isn't that how science progresses? How can you shut out other views and call them 'deniers?' Sounds pretty archaic to me.

Alas, he later responded to the question as to why climate change remains low on voters interests by saying "he failed" and that they were not getting the message across. Maybe he needs a more colorful bow tie or add a beanie to his attire or something.

Really? I can't turn on the television, or pick up a paper or go the grocery store or, or read about an award winning environmental documentary, or see David Suzuki and Al Gore (and their carbon footprints larger than Sasquatch and the average person) dancing with polar bears, or green weeks on NBC, or watch comedy shows filled with pro-green hipster dialog, be part of a casual conversation without the topic being discussed.

I think environmental issues take up its share of space in media. They push hard.

He didn't fail because of that. He failed because people call bull shit. They're also getting tired of being treated as if they're rubes.

Weiss for his part was just as bad if not worse. What astonished me was him publicly refusing to debate someone on a show. If I were the producer of the show I'd take him by the collar and tell him to man up and debate rather than hand waive and act like a progressive dip shit.

The panel didn't have to do much to showcase the dishonesty at work here. 'Give us green subsidies, because Manhattan and you're stupid" was pretty much the message I got.

The one guy who made any tangent and cogent sense was Lomborg - who looks an awful lot like Niklas Lidstrom.

In the end, is it possible climate change stats have been so inaccurate it lends itself to all kind of emotional and moral appeals as well as sensationalism wrapped up in rational jargon? The earth has been climate changing for billions of years. Are we that arrogant as a species to actually believe we can make a difference against Mother Nature's wishes? What about all the corruption and waste sank in green companies often connected to cronyism and if not, engage in technologies the economy and general consumer is not ready for?

I'm admittedly a lousy layman but doesn't incorrect predictions and waste in subsidies point to serious flaws in the premise? Has it conclusively proven that global warming is caused by man and the root of all our 'bad' weather?

If yes, it doesn't sound settled to me. Sounds like, if anything, it needs a shot of Pepto.

This is part of the interview:



********

The best science is emotional:



/drops cigarette from lips.

Where did Tarzan touch you, liwwle monkey?

Quote Of The Day

The more laws and regulations a nation possesses, the more dilapidated and corrupted; unjust and unequal; emotional and irrational, politically, economically and culturally, it becomes; gutted by its own excessive good intentions wrought with misplaced righteousness and rooted in faulty premises vulnerable to lies.

The result of such obtuse and decadent designs, governed by renegade and unaccountable entities and organizations, is the very thing it attempted to avoid: Chaos.

T.C.

Some Canadian Flavor To March Madness ; Dodgers-D-Backs In Sydney; Sixers Sinking

Watching some NCAA basketball and discovered there are 33 Canadians playing. I think that's the most this country has sent to the tournament. I remember back when they were bench players hardly getting playing time. Now we see Canadians on the starting five roster and some capable of going first overall in the NBA draft like Andrew Wiggins.

Good for basketball in Canada.

If only we could replicate this with the men's senior soccer team.

***

The L.A. Dodgers and Arizona Diamond Backs are starting their season on the road. Literally. The two teams are playing a two-game series in Sydney, Australia.

The Dodgers took the first game and are currently leading in game two.

Fun fact:

Average age in Sydney?

37.

That's young.

***

The over/under in Vegas for the Philadelphia 76ers at the start of the season was set at 16. The Sixers looked poised to breeze past that total at 15-30.

Since then, they've lost 24 in a row.

The people who took the over are sweating right about now.

If I were conspiratorial, I'd wonder about all this.

13 games left to play.

***

I'm doing okay in my NCAA pools. Wasn't that into UNC, Syracuse and Duke going into the tournament but I still picked them to go to at least the Sweet 16 against my better judgment. Other than that, as usual, the Mercers of this world come out of nowhere. In fact, I'm not sure why I didn't take Michigan to go deeper than Duke.

Whatever. My final four remains in tact for now: Michigan St., Louisville, Florida, Arizona.  In another I replaced Florida with Kansas. However, I have Michigan St. and Louisville in the final with Louisville taking it all. In another pool, I went with Florida. It was a tough call between them and Kansas.

Obamacare: No, It's Not Getting Better

Maryland exchanges, reputed to be among the better ones, is not so hot.

California is struggling. 

Obama's strategy seems to be hinged on selling it through mass celebrity marketing.

Cheesy Champions

List of cheese winners at the World Championship Cheese Contest.

The Swiss, Austrians and Dutch did very well in a few categories as did Canada. The French and Italians, on the other hand, strangely not well represented. They're among the biggest producers and consumers of some of the most famous cheeses in the world. Spanish cheese makers did better.

The United States, for its part, did phenomenally well despite not winning the main prize. What's interesting to note is they excelled in many cheese categories including Italian cheeses like Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Asiago, Gorgonzola and Ricotta. Same with the Greek cheese Feta.

Which brings me to a subject brought up by Skeptical Eye and the EU's decision to protect food name brands like Parmiggiano-Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma for example. They're concerned that food makers would not offer the same quality and standards for iconic food items.

Yet, all I see are American cheese producers (several of Italian origin) accounting themselves quite well.

Ironically, the parmesan winner was from Wisconsin. They just can't call it Parmiggiano-Reggiano according the EU.

Anyway, the North American regions most represented, from what I saw, were Wisconsin (by far the most represented ahead of Vermont), New Mexico, Idaho, Illinois, New York, Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Dakota, Vermont, California, Quebec, Ontario and Prince Edward Island.

My father always said, "gli Americani fano tutto!"

The Americans do and make everything.

University Of California At Santa Barbara Professor Charged - Good

University of California at Santa Barbara Associate Professor Mireille Miller-Young was charged with one misdemeanor count each of theft, battery and vandalism in the March 4 incident, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced Friday. The charges came days after 16-year-old Thrin Short and her parents met with prosecutors."

Her defense?

"A feminist studies professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara who allegedly assaulted a pro-life activist on campus insisted she did nothing wrong because the activists' material “triggered” her. She said her behavior “set a good example for her students.”

Triggered? What is she, a dog?

What an idiot. So, basically, if I understand this simpleton, it's okay to harass and steal from people merely because they offend you?

I mean, what a profoundly miserable individual.

University of California at Santa Barbara should be proud.




***

Evil is when you do evil acts but truly believe you're doing good.

Quote Of The Day: The Insane Are Gonna Insane

Joe Biden:

...but said he wanted to recommend President Obama for “sainthood” for how patient he was about the issues that made it difficult to use the website.

Yes. Because Obama is suffering through the fucking mess he made.

Anyway. How many derpy failed miracles does the Catholic Church need beatify Obama?


Man, these people are frightening.

DCF Slowly Killing Justina Pelletier

I did this point, I hold no more punches when it comes to the state and its bureaucrats and any mistreatment of citizens. 

The story of Justina Pelletier, strictly from a humanist perspective, is a moral abomination. It's a clear case of the family having no control over their own child. DCF in Massachusetts sounds like a dysfunctional and disreputable bunch of bullies (and really, look up its track record) for basically ruining and almost bankrupting a family. Man, imagine how many kids have been messed over by this department.

Apparently, they know what's best for the family.

The reason EVERYONE on the continent should watch this case unfold is because it can happen to ANYONE.

In the end, you may think you own your children but if the state sticks its fat, ugly, nose into the mix, you can end up in a lot of unnecessary trouble.

To think,  Deval Patrick is actually considering running in 2016.

Enough is enough.

Send that child back to her family.

Buffett's Tax Hypocrisy

Buffett is without doubt a great, shrewd investor and businessman. But he deserves every bit of scorn and criticism for what amounts to 'do as I say not as I do.'

"While companies typically seek to limit their tax burden on deals, Berkshire stands out because of Buffett’s public posture on paying one’s fair share of taxes, [said Jeff Matthews, a Berkshire shareholder and author of books on the company].  "If it were anybody but Warren Buffett, there’d be no story,” Matthews said. “But this is a guy who takes companies to task for going to great lengths to minimize their tax burdens, and he’s been doing it all his career.”

Buffett is some sort of hero to the left for his stances on taxes, yet he does the opposite of what he says. Meanwhile, they obsess over the Koch brothers who have yet to be proven to have done anything so seemingly hypocritical. Koch aren't going out there demanding people do this and that.

Buffett, of course, is doing nothing wrong. The point is he criticizes others for it. Same with Massachusetts elites like Warren and Kerry who claim the system is rigged but take full financial advantage of that same rigged system. Again. Good for them. But their rhetoric - often teetering on insufferable - doesn't match their actions.

Don't make me talk about Soros.

Progressive Insults

Amusing left-wing insult simulator.

I think it is anyway.

Divisiveness Is Not A Winning Strategy

Neither is nationalism in the long-run.

Both tend to stall and erode civil liberties. That much we know as history has made crystal clear.

The Parti Quebecois and Quebec Solidaire - once you cut past all the passionate social populist talk and rhetoric - are, once you scratch them to the end like a cheap lotto ticket, are divisive nationalist parties. That's what nationalism is. It must be predicated on suppressing one group over another.  Claiming they can be 'inclusive' is nonsense. Inclusive to the extent you toe the 'party line.'

Nationalists throughout history, in short, have been the part of the population we tend to call assholes.

Yesterday I briefly posted that I wasn't watching the debate. I tuned in for a few minutes but wasn't inspired to watch. The NCAA tournament beckoned. So far, so good my bracket hasn't been smashed yet. Thanks for asking. Though I am extremely annoyed with myself in not sticking to my original choices of Davidson and ND State in two of my pools. In reading about Davidson, it's a school that was burning to get at Ohio St., I realized that's an intangible trait to not go against. Yet I did. As for ND State, they had one stat that really caught my eye in that they're the best shooting team in the entire country. Normally, I say go with the best shooting team because in short tournaments shooting is key. Again, just couldn't go against the 5 seed in Oklahoma; especially considering I already had Harvard.

Meh.

I digress.

Where was I?

Right. Psychopaths. Nationalists.

Blah, blah, oh.

I was rewarded in not watching because at one point, I heard, a CJAD reporter had the nerve to ask a question in English. QS leader, Peppermint Patty (aka Francoise David) not only refused to answer, she wanted to be spoken in French.

Now think about this for a second. It's all about mindset. This chick wants an independent Quebec. Her and that other commie flunkie (whatshisname, Khadir is it?) believe in that project. Well, imagine the society of politesse and class they would build with that kind of mentality!

Thankfully, the majority of Quebec doesn't agree with that. I don't think I need (hopefully anyway) it needs to be pointed out that Quebecers have the grace (and privilege) to answer questions in English.

Bunch Of Turkey's

Erdogan said, “We’ll eradicate Twitter. I don’t care what the international community says.”

Ok. Since you don't care, I would change the name of your country to Chicken.

Obama's Bracket

From Investors.com.

Stumbled on this browsing around gathering information about the NCAA tournament.

Russian Aggression Commences

With Chamberlin filling out his brackets and going on Ellen, Moscow is sending more than a few chills down spines.

Still, reading how nationalist fervor is gripping Russia over a rotten piece of territory run by criminals,  I'm gonna back off painting Putin as a chess player and hope Obama can regain some semblance of statesmanship regarding the issue.

Mohawks Make It Official: They Will Secede If Quebec Bolts

They will separate from Quebec if Quebec foolishly leaves Canada.

The hunt is on.

***

Not watching the debate tonight. My vote is sealed anyway. It's not like any party will sway me. I like the CAQ - in theory - for their stance on business but they flirt too much with the PQ. I like the Liberal candidate in my riding.

Besides that, no talk - and I mean NO TALK - on liberty. I want my politics to include the role of the individual in shaping our communities as our own moral agents. Instead, we get two left-wing parties (PQ and QS, with the latter straying onto the socialist scale in Quebec Solidaire led by Peppermint Patty. I know progressives don't consider the PQ leftist, but in the end it plays the populist and ethnic nationalist role), one that pulls center-right (CAQ) on business matters anyway, and one that just exists (Liberal) but falls in the collective line.

I do wish and hope, however, Marois gets knocked out in the debate.

Putting The 'Mental' In Environmental Since The 60s Man!

Boy, does the environmental movement take a pasting in this article in Discover Magazine?

Call Me Senator

People sure love labels and titles.

In the end, they all piss and shit like the rest of us.

Sending The Wrong Message

Kudos for this kid for exhibiting her own independent thought letting her sense for decency govern her actions.

The school's reaction was the opposite of everything we teach our kids. A complete disregard for respect and inability to proceed with common sense. It's like bureaucrats and administrators are robots incapable of acting without consult a play book.

The world needs more of this girl and less of the idiots who sought to suspend her. She's her own moral agent. Authority figures seem to hate this in free people.

Read story in link.

Democrat Runs For Office After Eight Years In Jail

Those crazy, honorable Democrats.

Edwin Edwards. Out of prison and back into politics.

Hey.

Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

Equality Is Not Liberty

Equality, as dictated by the government, is submission. As in submitting one group to another in the guise of "equality." In doing so, the government then turns and calls it "liberty." Sure you can go to prison or face a fine if you don't follow our law, but you're free!

Grotesque, I know. But people eat that shit up all the time.

Marxism is liberty!

"The natural progress of things is for the government to gain ground and for liberty to yield."

Thomas Jefferon.

Hey Lisee, (snaps finger), read carefully.

Jefferson wasn't talking about forced equality at the hand of the state.

He always - always - talked of human individual liberty. A natural right bestowed upon man by God.

And God in Quebec society is an afterthought. Our "god" is the state.

Now go fool the base but you're not fooling this hack.

Toyota Settles With Government Mafia Inc.

For $1.2 billion.

Let's see. The government found no evidence that the accidents were due to malfunction finding out instead it was due to driver errors and they still rape Toyota?

And this isn't a shakedown how again?

The world is run by crazy people and those people protect other crazy people.

Things I Hate

Of which there are many. And no, this post is not about the PQ - those assholes.

It's about cable providers.

Specifically, the act of forcing me to pay for channels I don't watch or need. "Cancon stipulates that if you take these channels you must take these along with you. Oh, you want that channel? It's an additional $14.99 with another package."

That's the next step in the evolution of the Internet that will free up the consumer. One day, we will get to choose every single channel we're willing to pay for.

I can't wait for the day when the CRTC get their asses kicked and sent into irrelevancy into the harsh climate of Northern Manitoba.

Until those unelected paternalists are around, consumers will be slaves to their unilateral decisions.

Remember John Lilburne

The Levellers (1642-1648). for those who are swayed and follow classical liberalism, were the original classical liberals.

The bogeyman of established, tyrannical authority. Much like modern libertarians.

And like libertarians, The Levellers were largely seen as agitators (they probably had to endure their own version of "the government bestows you rights" and "if you're innocent, you have nothing to fear" we hear so often from the defenders of statism) but in a short time their influence on Western philosophy is secure in its profound impact. Look at them as The Beatles of their day. Here for a short time today, but not before leaving a legacy for tomorrow.

Their work remains unfinished.

"The Levellers were an informal alliance of agitators and pamphleteers who came together during the English Civil War (1642-1648) to demand constitutional reform and equal rights under the law. Levellers believed all men were born free and equal and possessed natural rights that resided in the individual, not the government. They believed that each man should have freedom limited only by regard for the freedom of others.  They believed the law should equally protect the poor and the wealthy.  The Levellers were the social libertarians of the day (or classic liberals).  "Leveller" was a term of abuse, coined by their opponents to exaggerate the threat of their ideas."

More here.


I am a Leveller!

Russia Laughs; Obama Fills Out Brackets

Call me crazy but I don't recall anyone laughing - including Russians - at Americans under the mediocre reigns of Bush or Clinton.

Which begs the question, just how bad is Obama?

I'm starting to be embarrass for Americans.

When Russia laughs at you, that miserable, wretched place, there's a problem.

But hey.

People continue to believe. Consider this junk:

There's a lot of anti American, Putin loving right wingers on here again. The difference between having a Republican as President and a Democrat is that Democrats staff their offices with highly intelligent, professional professionals with huge experience, and Republicans staff their offices with patronage filling partisan hacks that are clueless about how to conduct affairs like this. Remember "Great job Brownie" When Bush put a lifetime Republican who's only previous experience was assistant manager of a warehouse in charge of the most destructive natural disaster the country had faced? That's what you get with them. Everything we are doing right now is done for a purpose and I have full faith that at the end of the day, everyone will be put back in their boxes. I would have no such faith whatsoever if there was a republican in charge.

These are the people who believe the magical fairy tale of how the Republican party with its historic place in race relation has somehow switched with the Democrats. Somehow, the Democrats are now the post-racial, compassionate party filled with 'highly intelligent" people - like the guy who worries if Guam will tip and Joe Biden - who never start wars, have less criminals in their ranks than the GOP, speak for the poor and middle-class, and always the victim of Republican obstructionism.

Yet, it's the exact opposite. The Democrat party has started most of the wars, is a party steeped in racism (and I include 'liberal white guilt' and AA and PC in the racist ranks), has more people in prison, rapes the poor and middle-class in redistribution schemes, holds on to dated economic theories, is the party that comes closest to embracing left-wing nonsense, and has more wealthy people in its ranks than the GOP!

Yeah. That's some party.

"Republicans are acting as if holding the office of the President of the United States is their God given right. They made it very difficult for Bill Clinton to govern in the 1990s by undermining him and manufacturing a barrage of lies about him that were all defeated in court. They now have President Obama who they seem enjoy belittling from every angle. The Democrats need to wake up and stand up to these thugs. Yes, THUGS. Enough is enough. Fight fire with fire. Show these demagogues where they belong. No political party should be allowed to curve its existence through purposeful deceit and misinformation.

Funny.  You mean, like how Democrats went abroad to undermine Bush? You mean like that? I don't see the GOP going to France to bash Obama.

Democrats are standing up. Look at the results. Start with Obamacare.

Rough Days For Serie A

The Champions League quarter-finals have been determines and league breakdown has three Spanish sides through, two from England, two from Germany and one from France.

None from Italy.

A rare occurrence indeed.

One thing we knew for sure were death, taxes and a representative from Serie A in the quarters of Champions League alongside its great rivals. Alas, it's no longer the case.

While these things can shift back in a hurry, I think this time around it may take a little longer for Italian teams. Though they have been competitive in the last 15 years, they were not always the favorites as had been customary. Now, they're not even in the conversation. This means some retooling and rebuilding is needed and that takes money - in addition to some creative development.

If I look at the power house Italian teams - Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan - they're currently not on par with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. In fact, I wonder if they may end more like Ajax in Holland. Once among the most powerful of all teams now wallows in mediocrity struggling to remain relevant.

Juventus seems further along but there's a lot of work to be done.

The second-tier teams of Napoli (who were unlucky to not get out of the group stage. They could just as easily be in the quarters as Dortmund who they split in group play) and Roma play well but still are in need of some reinforcements to challenge seriously. Roma in particular are well coached by Rudy Garcia.

Anyway.

We'll see.

Obama And The NCAA Bracket

A few years ago I invited a buddy to lunch with some of my investment colleagues back when I had a real job.

He joined us but one hour later he was up and ready to leave.

He's partner in a steel company and if anyone could take a two hour lunch it would be the boss, right? When he balked at sticking around he told me, "I may be the owner but I have to set an example. Perception matters in the owner-employee relationship."

I was proud of my friend. Alls growns ups. Here's a guy who didn't take much for granted.

Everytime I see a leader like Obama fill out a basketball bracket I think about this. The act of filling out a bracket isn't much or worth scoring cheap political points off. But, given the turmoil his administration is in, it may be a good piece of advice to at least play the part of a serious boss.

That reminds me.

I have to fill mine out.

Rutgers: Excercise Their Right To Be Derp

Yes.

Obama doesn't circumnavigate the law. Rice oversaw waterboarding, Obama kills with drones. 

Yet, I'm pretty sure Rutgers wouldn't shy away from handing over a useless piece of paper to the latter.

/slaps 'L'  to forehead.

"Condoleezza Rice ... played a prominent role in (the Bush) administration’s effort to mislead the American people about the presence of weapons of mass destruction," according to the resolution. And she "at the very least condoned the Bush administration’s policy of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ such as waterboarding," it said.

"A Commencement speaker... should embody moral authority and exemplary citizenship," it continued, and "an honorary Doctor of Laws degree should not honor someone who participated in a political effort to circumvent the law."

These people are incorrigible in their acts of partisan sodomy. The same school that closed its eyes to that crazy basketball coach until video appeared.

What leaders.

Leaders in faux-outrage and morality. 

Venice Looks To Leave Italy

The people will take their voices mostly to a symbolic referendum.

Anyway.

I'm tempted to compare Venice's situation with Quebec. 

I don't profess to know the intricacies of the Venetian, nay Northern Italian, situation (other than what I read and the odd conversation I've had with my Italian friends and relatives) I understand the frustration they feel but there are, I think, differences between all sovereignty movements.

First off, it's less a desire from Venice proper as it is the Veneto region and by extension Northern Italian angling for detachment from Rome (through political parties like the Lombard League). Venice only has a population of 38 000. It's a city that's sinking and is no longer a maritime empire or power. It can't sustain itself. In this way, we come to the first difference with Quebec. Where Venice is not necessarily a driver of the Veneto or Northern region, Montreal by contrast is the engine that powers Quebec - and it want's little to do with separation save for some parts of the city mostly in the east end.

Another difference is the North claims to put into into the coffers of Rome (including the wretch of the mafia - though its reach goes far beyond Italy itself some argue. Thus, creating an independent issue altogether) than it gets back. With Quebec, it's the opposite. It's considered a have-not province whereby it takes in more than it gives.

Venice and Northern Italy operate, from what I can tell, despite massive regional and fragmented differences that never quite jelled into a unified Italian state as one may have hoped, in a more centralized political structure than Canada. Quebec has more autonomy than Venice does as it operates within a highly decentralized Federal state. Ironically, Canada does leave Quebec alone for the most part.

Canada, at least ostensibly, is a more stable country which also contributes to considering whether separation is worth it. Economically and politically, there's no question Quebec benefits.

Which brings me to the point of the European Union and United States - the two great hegemonic entities in the West. There's always been a certain under current and displeasure with the EU's technocratic rule which sits on top of a centralized Italian state that's has lost some of its power to Brussels. Many of my conversations with local Europeans has been to the effect of "What does Brussels know about Provence, or Calabria or whatever region?" This is followed by the concern of loss of local customs, culture and language.

Again, I argue, it's different for Quebec. The elephants in the room for Quebec is English-speaking Canada and the United States. But there's a difference. We're not a unified block. Which is why it's bizarre Quebec nationalists look to "copy" a EU style association. This would be actually bad for Quebec whereas in the current construct, Quebec is allowed and able to govern itself within a united Canada that has for the most part come to accept Quebec's unique situation. Canada, in other words, serves as a buffer against U.S. cultural, economic and political might.

Which is all semantics anyway because we're already a branch-plant society. Our talk is just fluff. In the end, we're just a protectorate of the American empire. A much more glorified Puerto Rico in some sense. Alas, this is neither here or there.

Venice too is a unique city with a unique history and demographic, however, its decline took place well before unification. Quebec's success mostly came first under British rule and then Canadian.

My impression is these regions are not being logical. They want to secede in order to recreate new associations. Why not just renegotiate those terms they disagree upon? In the end, they will end up tying themselves into new alignments that will problem create new problems than it solves. We're too entrenched into one another to split up. Yet, part of me thinks, as Western civilization continues to fracture, this may be the inevitable outcome. I'm just thinking out loud here.

We may see a reorganization of boundaries where values - not culture which is nonsensical to me - are the main concern. For example, California has recently discussed dividing the state into six regions. The main reason for it - and really, any similar movement - is to rid itself not of the state but of the welfare state. In other words, these are libertarian movement looking to put power back in the individual.

When the EPA goes into a person's private property and threatens it, through coercion and fines (to the tune of $75 000 per day in some cases), even though the property owner received proper documentation from his home state, you know you have a runaway Federal government crushing the freedoms of people. Never mind about the increasingly more radical IRS and SCOTUS rarely siding with the people. Or the DEA breaking down doors and killing innocent people based on faulty information. Or NSA keeping a catalog of private message that only furthers the coming dystopia.

Again, while Canada is further along the line on the socialist scale, where individual rights are secondary to the collective, Quebec doesn't have secret RCMP agents breaking down its doors. Or face a petty political crackdown from Revenue Canada or have to worry about a War on Drugs or CSIS which is way too immature a secret agent service to begin with.

I digress.

Maybe not.

The next great wave of independence won't be defined in the classic nation-state construct.

It will be of the individual reasserting its rights in the face of a tyrannical government.

Ontario Has Double Debt Of California

Read here.

Quebec, meanwhile, has more civil servants than California.

California has a population of about 37 million.

Bigger than Canada.

Food for thought.

No More NFL In Canada Talk

A couple of weeks back the NFL announced that Toronto won't be hosting an NFL game in 2014.

I haven't delved into the why's of the this decision but methinks in guessing fashion the attendance wasn't all that great.

It never sold out and the NFL doesn't do 'no sell-outs.' Arizona notwithstanding.

If the exercise was too test the waters for an international expansion, Toronto failed the test.

Hopefully, wannabe Canadians just stick to supporting the CFL.

Early Election Impressions

The PQ and CAQ have bigger signs than the Liberals.

Bad omen?

EPA: Evil Protection Agency

The story of Andy Johnson.

Fight the good fight, Andy. 

By all accounts, this sounds like a state issue. The EPA seems to be over reaching.

Big Government Psychopaths

Ga'head.

Try and tell me how big government gives dignity to the people.

Fucking psychos.

First example you pansies vote for nannies: 

Are you a mother in RhodeIsland and want your grown children to get health insurance?Luckily for you, the Rhode Island state government launched aFacebook ad campaign today warning 23-33 year-olds that if theydon’t get health coverage through the Rhode Island exchange(HealthSourceRI) their moms could find them on OkCupid,Tinder, or Snapchat and urge them to get covered.

****

What does a $5 million grant get you?



Thus proving once again if your idea runs with the bull shit government trend you get cash.

****

This post was supposed to link to a Thinkprogress a vomit-inducing, scrotum licking article, decorated with Melitha Perry-Harrith commie outtakes,  about Obama being a father to his family and America by extension.

It made the horrible, mistake of saying "all Presidents" were fathers and then went on to talk about how Obama is different. I think, off the top of my head, Taft and Buchanan did not have offspring.

Hey, they're progressives. Facts just get in the way of their narratives, right?

It really was sickening.

And they say Thinkprogress is a bastion of liberal, progressive thought.

Which is another way of saying childish drivel.

But, when I went to get the link, it was no longer there.

Wonder why.

NOTE. Updated March 20.

It's back up.

Enjoy.

Evil

Evil comes in many faces, shapes, and sizes. We all know about menacing ghosts and badly disfigured clowns but there's another form of evil.

The one where intellectuals in academia call for censorship and as one Lawrence Torcello argues "criminalize dissent."

Imagine a student in that asshole's class.

Let's call these people for what they are.

Evil.

Egotistical, lying, evil sacks of shits.

Am I the only one who doesn't see the fucking twisted idiocy of what they advocate? Are you people who support this nonsense and assholes like Torcello (who is not even a fucking scientist and but a philosopher) that pathetic to not see this is how the Dark Ages - a period the left (ironically) derides - functioned?

Ironically, the good assistant professor pimped out his idea on a publications called...The Conversation.

Nothing says open and free dialogue like attempting to criminalize it.

I'm not here to argue about whether global warming is man made or not, I'm here to defend FREE SPEECH. In this way, Torcello can go fuck himself. 

I seriously have to bail on the human race and go off into the wilderness because we're losing our minds if this is the sort of stuff that passes as "intellectualism" now.

Welcome to progressive thinking. If you disagree, we will punish you.

Evil motherfuckers.

"If free speech leads to global catastrophe, then it's worth it to limit free speech.
The denier propaganda industry is a clear and present danger to global human security because it gets in the way of necessary policy action.
All this is true.

Of course I don't believe in jailing people for speech. But let's not destroy the world too, shall we?"

Like I said.

Evil.

***

What I don't get is the forum is beating itself up on what's "consensus" and what is "misinformation." A few argue all the bad info comes from the denier side. Yet, haven't the IPCC 'consensus' report been questioned to say nothing of the scandal and deceit that came out of East Anglia?

More disturbingly, it went off talking about climate change without regard to what the professor was advocating: Criminalizing speech.

UK Gay Couple Take Church To Court

And so it begins.

I hope they lose.

Not for being gay. Nothing wrong with that.

Just for not having the decency to move on with their lives.

The Church is a Church. Government shouldn't get in the way of a Church's stance on anything.

Religious institutions have a right to serve and reflect what their parishioners believe. 

Under no circumstance should the sanctity of this relationship be broken.

It's the same crap about forcing bakers to bake you a cake. God dammit, move on to the next one. Gays who do this don't impress me one iota.

Everyone is free to move on.

***

The headline deemed it important to point out they were millionaires.

Not sure how that's relevant.

An Inept, Rudderless Administration

The Obama's foreign policy is an incoherent mess. Marked by the misapplication of power, misreading of opponents intents, indecisiveness, contradictions and possibly lies. His caution was taken to be a sign of his intellectual prowess but as noted early in his reign, the emperor never had any clothes. He never laid out with any details his vision for the United States.

And when he does attempt to look strong, his strategy is nothing but the extension of Bush policies made worse by the fact he actually armed an enemy in Syria the United States is at war with. His removal of Morsi has unleashed a myriad of unintended consequences and he's simply not up to the task to deal with. Ditto for his vanity project in Libya. A stupid intervention that arguably led to the storming of the embassy in Benghazi resulting in four dead Americans.

In fact, this can be applied to his divisive domestic policies and stale progressive rhetoric predicated on class warfare and wealth distribution (brought to its heights through Obamacare currently in a state of chaos as anger towards its content continues to grow).

Barack Obama's 'reset button' is dysfunctional. He's stalled and no one can figure out how to restart it. Who among any of Clinton, Biden, Kerry, Reid, Pelosi, Hagel and who ever else you may add can offer anything of any substance? One after another they've made public comments that should bring much embarrassment to any intelligent American.

They seem much more preoccupied with Fox News, Limbaugh, bad Nazi analogies, calling Americans liars, blaming GOP obstructionism, damaging racial commentary (just to name a few) to be charged with controlling a mighty nation. In other words, the party said to understand the 'big picture' behave in myopic fashion.

Equally as damaging to the United States is his progressive economic policy. The President is coming off more and more meek and more and more superficial as his sophomoric administration continues to campaign as though inhabited by rank amateurs.

This is not a Republican problem. There is no 'mess to clean up from Bush.' There's nothing and no one to blame.

All these problems are uniquely of his own doing.

Obama just realized that because you're an American president doesn't mean the world will listen to your twirly, sophistry. It doesn't care you know how to play 'cool.'

You need to be able to project the perception of power.

Judging by international headlines, they're not seeing the power point presentation all that well.

****

But don't take it from me. Try what, say, the Italians are saying.

How do you say 'ouch' in Italian?

Article about how Obama is losing the 'New' Cold War.

Or how about Russia?

We're all racists now.

Anyway. As bad as Obama is, I'll side with him over Putin,

Fuck Russia and that article. The commenters; especially that Canadian a-hole who married a Russian. Fuck all those people.

Russia is acting like a thug using crappy Soviet rhetoric. We will protect Russians in other lands...Jesus Christ.

*****

Libertarianism With Canadian Flavor

Libertarian candidate Tim Moen runs in Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Comment:

"You can't have welfare programs and still have respect for freedom. Freedom means not having to pay for someone else's poor choices. Forcing people to work to make profit you against their wills was, is, and always will be called slavery. You may be fine with slavery and theft that benefits you and your kind (parasites), but moral people are not."

I hope candidates will turn up around these parts. As for Fort McMurray, it's a key battleground for libertarianism in North America as it sits in the heart of the oil sands debate.

Language Zealots Dishonor French

Know what I think?

I think the Parti Quebecois and the entire language obsessed intellectual class in Quebec don't deserve a beautiful language like French.

In my view, their actions dishonor the language.


They only way to protect the language, it seems, is to suppress another according to these people.

That to me does a disservice to French.

Man Who Defended Himself With Legal Firearm May Still Face Charges

Not dead enough.

Right. Let's see. Man gets accosted. Man beaten by three assailants with baseball bat. Man defends and shoots them killing two.

But he's the one who will face charges?

Hm.

Day Of St. Patrick

"Top of the morning to ye on this gray, grizzly afternoon. Kent O'Brockman live on Main Street, where today everyone is a little bit Irish, except, of course, for the gays and the Italians!"

I've been to one St. Patrick's Day party in my life. And that was to join some colleagues after work years ago. No different than any other drinking day - except it's more green and shit.

The EPA: Another Evil Entity

All government departments in North Americ like the EPA trample of civil rights.

NASA Should Stick To Space

Why is NASA commenting on economics?

All work and no funding make Nasa a dull boy or something?

Anyway.

Spot the nonsense.

Money is not wealth and vice-versa.

As for collapse and scarcity, yeah, that kinda went away through agricultural technological advancements and global trade.

Have you seen the Vikings invade lately?

Heroes!

Where's my burger, punk?

Hey, thugs get hungry, no? And thugs, as we know, eat lavishly - like wanting a White Castle burger since the streets of Brooklyn are mighty dangerous enough to work up an appetite.

And then nothing happened.

PQ: Party Of Xenophobes

I described the Quebec Charter as the 'Know your place' Charter.

It's an easy description to make knowing the source of whence it comes from.

Bob Rae offers his thoughts about Quebec. I'm no supporter of Rae's socialist bent but he reminds readers  of the PQ's ethnic nationalist mean streak - though not this reader who knows this all too well. 

If you were to give a PQ biography to an outsider they'd immediately connect the party to whatever tribal party in their own country.

Rae describes when Peladeau senior once said 'the Jews take up space.' Which is pretty much in line with Quebecois xenophobia. Quebec has always distrusted the Jews. Which probably explains why Arabs are an ethnic minority that gravitates more than any other to that party. Still, I have no idea how any ethnicity would join a party that in its heart, doesn't consider anyone outside their small definition of what constitutes 'Quebecois.' The so-called 'pure-laine.' Which of course, as is the case with all entities that defines itself along ethnic lines is largely rooted in myths and deception.

These days, Quebec hasn't abandoned its racism. It has double-downed. It now has a problem with other ethnics. I don't really care what they say, but their language obsession is a form of racism. Sure, whatever you say, harassing restaurants for words like 'Trattoria' and 'Pasta' is not racist. Whatever you say you degenerates.

Recall the drunken Jacques Parizeau's retarded statement of claiming Quebec lost the 1995 referendum because of 'money and the ethnic vote.' As a neighbor said to me at the time, 'it's true but he shouldn't have said it.' Right. Keep your racism hidden so I can't see it. That's how fucking stupid they are. They believe they're being honest. Sorta like how the KKK believes blacks needed to know their place.

Bernar 'Bernie' Landry (seriously, get that guy a Bernie from Sesame Street sweater) goes around town demanding people speak to him, as if he's some damn Duke, in French should they have the gall to say hello to him in English. Hockey commentator and former NHL coach, Michel Bergeron declared on a hockey show that Dave Tallon wasn't really a Quebecer which is right in line with Pierre-Karl Peladeau's assertion that the Molson's weren't really Quebecers. Never mind that film maker Felardeau (I forget his first name) once called Canada 'a nation of assholes' on another primetime Quebec tv sports show.

And these are just some of the comments we've heard over the years. I don't include those personally hurled towards me. There have been many more but they escape memory. It doesn't take much digging since some of it has been logged while all one needs to do is ask any person of non-Francophone stock what xenophobic slurs they've heard these buffoons utter in the past.

Don't be fooled by the PQ's bambi-like arguments about only wanting to defend themselves. It would be acceptable if they wouldn't be so damn punitive in their measures. But it's not because all they do is use the law to attack and state-sanction discrimination. Theirs is a foul and twisted vision of what constitutes a free and civil society.

One I want no part of.

Quote Of The Night

"Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is "apparently, and I say that in respect, very superficial."

Not that I necessarily disagree, but this coming from Bernie Landry a 'parle moi en francais' pequiste.

/rolls eyes.

Sure, Bernie. Whatever you say.

 

The Life Of A Gourmet Socialist

French style:

"The last socialist leader of France was Francois Mitterand. He died due to prostate cancer in the new year of 1996. Knowing he was nearing the end of his life, the President elected to indulge himself in a gourmand's last meal. 

Each to his own but the contents of that meal and the location perhaps tell us a little more about the man himself rather than the politics he pertained to espouse. His meal was taken in the remote hamlet of Latche in Bordeaux. 

The meal was arranged by Henri Emmanuelli - the very politician who today speaks out in defence of one of the most cruel practices to take place in France. Mitterand began his last meal with 30 Marennes oysters, foie gras and capons washed down with Sauternes and local red wine. I needn't remind you of the natural history of foie gras. 

He then moved on to the piece de resistance. He then moved on to the ortolans. It is not illegal to eat one but it is illegal to catch or trap one. Each ortolan (bunting) weighs less than an ounce (28g). When caught it is locked in a darkened room (memories of veal) and fed with millet until fit to burst (memories of geese). The stuffed bird is then drowned in armagnac and roasted for 8 minutes. It is then often eaten whole. It would be very difficult to concoct a more barbaric preparation of any food anywhere in the world. 

In accordance with French custom, Mitterand hid his head under his napkin after eating each bird. I assume the head is hidden in shame but the French tradition claims that the head is hidden to hide their greed from God."

Sunday Night Music

Sarc:o.

Wake Up And Lead Mr. Harper

You silence in the face of Pauline's ridiculous proclamations is unacceptable. If you need 'advice' about Quebec then you weren't fit to lead this country as you had a weak sense of national unity to begin with.

When do you plan to speak out? When it's too late like the Liberals under Chretien did? How did that gutless strategy work out? We escaped by the skin of our beaver tails. 

It's not that hard to be a leader.

I don't get it.

Why do we seem to be stuck with jelly fish in North America when it comes to real, hard core leadership? Lord knows you won't get much from the Liberal party of Canada and the NDP's idiotic, treacherous acceptance of the 50+1 only points to the fact they will not defend Canada. It's astounding this party forms the Official Opposition.

I never expected much from those two political entities.

But I do expect and demand something from the Conservative Party of Canada.

Who will stand up for Canada?

It's simple, Mr. Harper.

Whenever you hear that twit flap her lips you counter. It doesn't need to be a punch. A jab will suffice as any boxing aficionado will tell you.

"Mme. Marois is under the impression Canada will conduct business as usual once Quebec unilaterally decides to separate. It is the position of the government of Canada that the voice of the Canadian people, through difficult negotiations, will be heard in the aftermath of such an emotional and unfortunate decision. There are no guarantees as we will be navigating through uncharted waters. We will be monitoring the situation moving forward and will comment if circumstances command we do so. Thank you. God Bless The Guess Who."

See how easy that is?

You've just gave the Quebec electorate something to think about.

It wasn't aggressive nor was it insulting. It's a fact. We don't know. That's what a fucking leader does.

Of course the PQ will howl like the jackals they are. It's what they do. Let them. It's all bluster anyway. If the Quebec population is foolish enough to vote against Canada because it feels 'insulted' then Quebec has bigger problems to deal with. Such a mentality is problematic and internal and has little to do with Canada. They need to lie down on a couch somewhere.

Honestly, I don't give a shit about the PQ. I care about my life and family and the nation of Canada.

Will you speak on our behalf, Mr. Harper?