Obama Unsurprisingly Issues Executive Order On Gun Manufacturing

Baby steps. Baby. Steps.

You see, it's been said many times in many ways the progressive are sneaky, smug little shits.

If they don't get their way, why, it's only appropriate to use force or other means to get it - including executive orders.

Obama is no different on this front. He's pretty much done a dance on health care. Gun control was next despite - much like with Obamacare - the majority of Americans not supporting his proposal.

The political parasitical class potentially putting gunsmiths out of business is plain terrible for a nation.

It's classic 'fuck you, that's why and we know better' political elitist bull shit. Not surprisingly, the lackey pundits and sycophants in academia or in the media will find ways to bend history to fit their narrative.

It's all so sordid but for the good of the people, you see.

Obama is not enhancing America. He's hastening it's decline.

And when historians look back looking where it all went awry, it will be very easy to single out Obama (and others) for it.

***

And just so we're not confused by where progressivism leads have a look-see at Venezuela under that whacko Maduro:

"A new decree establishing that any employee in Venezuela can be effectively made to work in the country's fields as a way to fight the current food crisis is unlawful and effectively amounts to forced labor," Amnesty International said in a statement released on Thursday.
President Nicolás Maduro signed a decree at the end of last week that gives powers to the labor ministry to order "all workers from the public and private sector with enough physical capabilities and technical know-how" to join a government drive aimed at increasing food production.
They can be required to work in the agricultural sector for a 60-day period that can be extended for another 60 days "if the circumstances require it."

All part of the same cloth.

Intellectuals You Should Know: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ever hear of Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Of course not. She's poison to the left.

She discusses, among other things, in The New Criterion 'In Defense of Dissidence' the difference between Da'Wah and Jihad and how they're intertwined as well as what is a Medina Muslim (a political doctrine):

"...And there are, in the United States of America and beyond, in this incredibly interconnected world, Muslims who want to abide by Mohammed’s message beginning from Medina. They are our enemies, because they have defined us as an enemy. They are my enemies because I’m an apostate. I’m no longer a Muslim, therefore I have to be killed. They are your enemies because you are not a Muslim. And those Muslims who want to act on the Medina principles, on the principles of abrogation, of political supremacy, of the Caliphate, who don’t recognize boundaries between nations, they are our enemies. It’s very easy to define that. It should not have taken us fifteen years to get there. And we’re still not even there...."

The Destruction Of Western Civilization By Progressives Is Almost Complete

I came upon this article by one Peggy Drexler today. It's a marvelous piece of cynical gibberish about Bill and Hillary Clinton's 'surprising secret' to their marriage.

It's actually repugnant given what we know about the Clintons; particularly Bill's sexual predatory practices smoothly glossed over by the author.

But it's pretty much the norm where contemporary liberal "thinking" lies these days. Which is to say in a ditch not unlike a carcass yet to be found.

Example:

"It's easy to judge others' relationships, especially at a time in our social history when many couples are quick to call it quits.

This is not to say that all marriages should endure, even through the sorts of hurtful times the Clintons experienced. But it is to say that all marriages tell multiple stories, and that, in the end, the marriages that last are the ones that can count on mutual support, respect, love, and coming together when it really matters."

 

Not even Dante or Machiavelli could measure up to this level of cynicism even if they tried. Yes, we've arrived at the point where one of the most ambitious power couple in American politics who have accepted corruption, deceit and dishonor all in the interest of attaining and maintaining power are somehow an example for us all.

How an Ivy League professor of psychology can write such drivel directly points to the current malaise academia finds itself in.

She's not alone. In fact, she's just part of a wave of dumbasses who are in positions of power doing and saying stupid and insipid things. 

This ties into the video above. The progressive left have come full circle since the early 20th century and anyone who has given life to or supported it have played their part right up to Obama.

It's a sorry state of affairs. Personally, I don't think there's much we can do to reverse this race to the bottom. Pandering to the lowest common denominator is in a current free fall and we have to let it crash until it hits the pavement splashing like a sack of wet cement.

Only then can we begin the process of cleaning up the mess left behind by progressives. Only then will we see our version of The Renaissance.

Priest Jacques Hamel's Death Should Be Wake Up Call For Europe

The cold blooded sickening murder of a priest during Mass in France by teenagers pledging allegiance to ISIS should be a wake up call by Western Europeans. A strong message should be sent condemning this acts. Start by not making stupid excuses ( along the lines of he had marital problems!) and enforcing the law. Strong language coupled with law enforcement are just the beginning. There should never be a settling of 'this is the new norm' lest they become complacent.

So far there's been a disturbing trend by officials in places like Sweden, the UK, Belgium, France and Germany to dismiss or downplay violent acts by Muslims.That it's the progressive left doing all the bending comes as no surprise. Progressives are despicable twits when it comes to this certain of problem.

What I'm reading about what's going on in Europe (led by the lame Germans, French and British slaves to a sort of Stockholm Syndrome disease as well as political correctness) is plain disturbing made all the more outrageous by the apologists who do not seem willing to do something about it.

From where I sit Europe are acting like cowards.

Man up and don't let the murder of this priest go in vain. Let it coarsen one's will to fight back.

RIP.

I Didn't Ask You

A few years ago, or thereabouts, I recall ads from the SAQ saying 'it's a pleasure to choose for you'.

This coming from a state run monopoly.

I never asked for a bureaucrat from the liquor department to choose alcohol for me. I've traveled enough to have my own tastes. The SAQ can't possibly speak for me where personal choice is concerned which is why it shouldn't be a public institution.

Alcohol should be a private matter. End of discussion. Only then will we see the market truly reflect consumer choices and tastes.

Moreover, this nonsense of 'protecting' our racket by limiting how many bottles we're allowed to buy and bring over the border is another issue whose time has come. We should be free to buy what we want and how much we want without fearing the excessive punitive wrath of the government.

This is what constitutes 'it's a pleasure to choose' for me?

No thanks.

Step aside.

Fuck You: An Ode To Liberty

The other day I was reading how Hillary - that lying stupid twat - wanted to amend the 1A (or something like that) so that it would be illegal to criticize the government. It's a theme the EU has already made law and has found its way to North America. So before this becomes an official law here I figure to get my licks in.

If you've taken someone to court over something that was said and you took offense. Fuck you.
If you've sued because someone didn't bake you a cake. Fuck you.
If you represent the government and accost people for freedom of speech. Fuck you.
If you're the Liberal party of Canada under Justin Trudeau and look to curb free speech. Fuck you*.
If you work for the Human Rights Tribunal. Fuck you.
If you're someone that believes this to be a way to keep civility. Fuck you. You're an idiot.
If you're the sort of mind that describes freedom of speech and expression with a 'but'. Fuck you.
If you censor, seek to silence, outright shut off speech. Fuck you.
If you're a company with influence and fire people for their opinions. Fuck you.
If you've ruined a life because you were offended. Fuck you.
If you remain silent accepting an extortion racket by the government against free speech. Fuck....you.
If you actually believe in vapid progressive terms like 'diversity' and 'equality' at the expense of liberty. Fuck you.
If you're a celebrity and pick and choose where and how liberty is applied. Fuck you.
If you're a pundit that applauds government action against citizens on matters of speech. Fuck you.
If you believe there's such a thing as 'balanced speech' as enforced by the state. Fuck you.
If you're an opportunistic lawyer preying on this bull shit. Fuck you.
If you ever asserted the 1A, 2A, 4A and 5A in the United States need 'fixing'. Fuck you.
If you need a safe space and use the term 'white privilege' or 'micro-aggression' or 'cultural appropriation'. Fuck you.
If expect a trigger warning. Fuck you.
If you go to comedy shows knowing full well you're a sensitive shit head. Fuck you.
If you're law enforcement bullying little kids for their actions that amount to nothing. Fuck you.
If...
 
Fuck. You.

Fuck every single one of you for the totalitarian shit heads you all are.

If you have no liberty, you're a slave to the bureaucratic whims and decisions of the state.

Fuck you.

And you know exactly who you are.

Fuck you.

If you have a problem with all I've written.

Kiss my ass.

And.

Fuck. You.

*An extra crispy fuck you.

If Americans Want To Chart A New Course There Can Be But One Choice: Gary Johnson

Much is made about the "problem" of the American two-party system (worry not my American friends, we have a 2 1/2 party system and it's not that much better; if at all) and the lack of choice.

While it's true from a numerical perspective, it does hinge on a quality over quantity calibration and this election year one can easily conclude the quality just isn't there.

Hillary is just plain a horrible candidate and possibly - given reports and careful examination of the facts - person. She comes with so much baggage and question marks it's even a miracle such damaged goods could even be considered to run the most powerful nation on earth.

Donald Trump is basically a populist tapping into a seething under current of anger among all Americans. When you're angry and don't have much choice or options, you're gonna throw your support into the person who acknowledges it. There's a whole lot of 'yes! Finally someone says it' in American politics. Problem is, it comes in the form of Donald Trump who is not exactly a forth wright individual.

Spare me about the coming 'tyranny' and 'martial law' crap. American presidents have been acting as such as power consolidates more and more into the Executive. When the people say 'no' to something all a President has to do is circumnavigate the people through an executive order. A sort of loophole - or more direct - a big fuck you that's why depending on the issue.

Clinton's email and charity shenanigans should be enough to dissuade a voter who is considering her and Trump just doesn't exude the sort of statesmanship we've come to hope and yearn for in a political leader.

It's a terrible choice between the two.

But there is a more than acceptable option.

His name is Gary Johnson.

You can't tell me he'd be worse than these two or even with the last 16 years Bush and Obama gave Americans which was plain, plump mediocrity.

Some may argue it's 'wasting' a vote but in this case I think it isn't. If Johnson gets enough critical support this may pave the road for a process of true change down the road. This time around a good case could be made that if a vote is cast for the two traditional parties - Democrat and Republican - you're not only voting to keep the status quo in *hope* things will change but quite possibly wasting it.

Spencer: Treating Islamic Jihad As A Mental Illness

Robert Spencer on (the strange case of) Islamic terrorism and mental illness: 

Speaking Of Making America Great

Mussolini speaks to Italians working 'to make America great' while praising the United States.

And then he joined the Axis much to the surprise of Italians.

Sunday Night Music

The Smiths:

Toronto 2 Montreal 0

One of the things I always felt was important and should never have a whiff of politics is with road signs on our highways. It's been something that's always rubbed me the wrong way with Quebec. Millions of North Americans pass through our highways systems and you would thing we'd extend a menial courtesy of putting some key highway information in English. Instead, it's 100% in French - just to show who is boss no less.

This fact is made to look at the more petty and cynical given signs all along the 401 and right until Niagara Falls are offered in BOTH OFFICIAL LANGUAGES.

That Toronto clearly reigns supreme as Canada's metropolis - I mean it's not even a fair fight anymore. We tend, here in Montreal, to think we're two Alpha Male cities fighting for the metropolis soul of a nation. It's not. Toronto has buried us and left us with a Beta status - is obvious to anyone of sound and sober mind can observe but that they also have now showed how things should work when tiresome language politics don't drive, excuse the pun, common sense.

Heck, even fricken Vermont has more French signs than Montreal does. 

As a Montrealer, I have to say, I'm not impressed with this city. In fact, it's quite embarrassing.

But hey.  Look at all those cool bike paths and...hip people!

As for, Helene David. Well, Mme. David is too busy fighting for silly descriptors (it makes *good business sense* after all) to be bothered with all this nonsense. After all, it's Quebec and in Quebec it must be in French.

Keep up with this insular mentality and we'll slip still some more in due time.

Floundering Minds For Faltering Times

Modern philosophy: 

'Black lives matter!'
'No! All lives matter!
'How dare you?!'

Shows you how far we've come in contemporary intellectualism. It all boils down to pointless labeling passing off critical thinking.

It's true. The Founding Fathers couldn't conceive much of how complex things turned out.

Who could possibly foresee how complicated our ignorance and stupidity would become?

Confederate Toronto

Here's an interesting story in The Torontoist about the little story of Canadians who supported the Confederate cause.

Snippet:

"...As Eric Jarvis details in his contribution to Celebrating One Thousand Years of Ontario’s History (Ontario Historical Society, 2000), “the American Civil War became something of a spectator sport for many Torontonians. There was a vicarious interest in the events of the war and the fascination associated with a dramatic and violent spectacle.” Despite the efforts of George Brown’s Globe newspaper to keep the public focused on slavery as the cause of the American conflict, the majority of Canadian newspaper readers held anti-Northern sentiment. At one point in 1861, a uniformed Union soldier visiting Toronto was loudly jeered by passersby and was greeted, upon entering a saloon, by the musical accompaniment of “Dixie.”
 
Although most British North American citizens did not favour slavery, they feared that the North was only interested in conquest and that, if the South were vanquished, annexation of British North America would be next. Denison—who would later serve as the city’s police magistrate—was among those who raised the spectre of imminent annexation in a polemic he published, calling for British North American defenses to be raised.
 
Moreover, Southerners who frequently vacationed in the Niagara region before the war had forged close ties with the local elite in Canada West. While visitors from the Northern states were perceived as unscrupulous businessmen and crass nouveau riche, the wealthy and refined tourists from the South convinced many in Southern Ontario “of the righteousness of their cause”—as Winks put it."

Hail Canadian Hail!

I know. Terrible title. 

 

"Severe Thunderstorm Warning

3 mins ago – Environment Canada

At 6:44 p.m. EDT, Environment Canada meteorologists are tracking a severe thunderstorm capable of producing very strong wind gusts, up to toonie size hail and heavy rain ..."

Sometimes I do love Canada.

Update

No, I have not abandoned. Just haven't found the energy to slug through all these stories and links!

From Ali all the way to the horrific scene in Nice there's much to digest and discuss.

And I will impart my opinion. Oh yes, I will.

The United States Has No Rule Of Law Where Corrupt Politicians Like Hillary Are Concerned

The FBI has decided to not lay charges on Hillary despite the obvious - that she broke the law. It's not a surprise though. The American justice system - much like our own - protects the parasite and scum class.

People who accept this are a special kind of stupid. For accepting it, you do not demand the political class to abide by the rules and law. In this case, it's very damn clear a high-ranking official can't have a private server - for obvious reasons. Worse, she didn't even bother to get proper authorization for it and when investigated she stalled and destroyed who knows how many emails.

Her gross negligence and breathtaking arrogance is staggering. Imagine her as President what she would do.

I thought if you have nothing to hide and all that.

And if citizens don't demand politicians account for their actions, then, well don't be surprised at the coming authoritarian state. YOU played your part.

The worst part? All the hypocrisy. The United States, like a bully, preys on its weakest citizens and incarcerates them for the silliest of offenses. Ambitious prosecutors and AG's across the country assault civil liberties in the name of 'keeping order' and all that.

Yet, the second one of their own commits an act that if an ordinary citizen or low-ranking official would commit they'd face the full power and boot of the law.

This is what America has become?

There are no winners here. From Obama to Lynch to the FBI.

All I see are a set of people conspiring to mock and further erode the integrity of the laws they claim to uphold.

In other words, yes, the United States is a banana republic run by corrupt buffoons.

Hillary for President (because it's her turn!)?

I can't think of a better candidate that will give a spineless people what they deserve.

Socialism Destroying Venezuela Before Our Eyes

I'll just leave this gif here.

Where Venezuela is concerned, left-wingers engage in remarkable sophistry and twisted logic trying to convince us it's not "true" socialism.

Quote Of The Day

Cooke at NRO:

"The beauty of the American Founding was not that it provided a detailed roadmap that could predict the minutiae of the future in glorious perpetuity, but that it laid out for all people a set of timeless and universal ideals, the veracity and applicability of which are contingent upon neither the transient mood of the mob nor the present state of technology. Among those ideals are that "all men are created equal," and that they "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"; that "Governments are instituted among Men" in order to "secure" their "rights"; that legitimate power derives "from the consent of the governed"; and that if any such government is seized or corrupted by tyrants, "it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it."

Quote Of The Day

Calvin Coolidge 4th of July speech:

"About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers."

Amen.

Germany Finally Beats Italy...Barely

I'm really backed up at the moment and need to get my posts out soon.

But first my thoughts - and others - on the Italy-Germany Euro 2016 quarter-final match.

I'm not going to say a whole lot.

It's always a shame to see a match of this magnitude settled on the randomness of penalties kicks and boy was that high drama. But should anyone be surprised in what is among the all-time greatest sports rivalry? Personally, I didn't find it boring because these two intelligent giants played tactics.

Germany finally beat Italy for the first time at a major tournament -though it took a dramatic 6-5 win on penalties after a 1-1 draw following 120 minutes of play. It was a cautious game where both sides might have shown a bit too much respect and reverence leading to a tactical show down slowing down pace. In fact, the display of respect is something we rarely see by German sides. It's one of the major reasons why they always lost to Italy.

My theory holds where Italy always played with self-doubt and with a keen respect for their opponents, the Germans usually come over-confident and perhaps even cocky. This sort of mentality plays perfectly into Italian hands who tend to feed off this since they don't intimidate easily.

As for the game itself, let's examine a couple of points.

-Let's be clear, the Germans were indeed better on this day. 

-Of course Germans are going to say they deserved the win because they held the ball more. But ball possession as noted repeatedly here over the years is a misleading stat. It means little Germany held the ball. It's what you do with the ball that matters. Go a little beyond it and you find Italy had more shots directed at the goal and equal shots on target with a 42% shot accuracy to Germany's 30%.

Ball possession is not a mark of dominance.

Statistically, Italy used their chances slightly better. 

Which makes the charge of Italy 'parking the bus' all the more dubious. 

 -Germany got their tactics right - including shifting to a 3-4-3 signalling that Germany finally found its humility and granted Italy the respect it deserved. But this tactic could have gone awry for Germany if Italy were healthy in the midfield.

-I don't know why I keep hearing Germany were 'unlucky' with the penalty called in favor of Italy that eventually drew the game level at 1-1. It was a clear penalty and silly error by the defender. Boateng is the author of his own actions. The referee had no choice. They scored. Fair game. Own it.

The cognitive dissonance is impressive given how many penalties over the decades Germany got - some dubious - including one that provided them with a 1-0 World Cup win in 1990 over Argentina.

The charge Italy would not have scored in open play is more acceptable given how well Germany was playing but they didn't shut it down.

There is no doubt in my mind had Candreva and de Rossi played while bringing on Insgine earlier, Italy likely pulls out a win.

-Germany's technical skills were a notch above Italy. If that game opened up, Germany would have been more comfortable in that scenario.

Nonetheless,  here's my biggest take away where these two sides are concerned.

Germany is at its highest ebb at the moment while Italy at its lowest in a generation. Yet, Germany still could but muster a 1-1 draw against a team with a decimated midfield in full time at 120 minutes. It took clumsy penalty kicks to prevail...barely.

If I'm German, though a well-deserved victory with no apologies needed, I'm keeping the bragging rights to a minimum this morning.

Out of all the Italian teams that have taken on and beaten Germany, I hold this one in equal high regard. Strangely, I get the sense this galvanized Italy and provided them with a new sense of belief.

They made Germany sweat. They forced unforced errors on them. They made them miss penalties. They showed they're there for the taking.

Keep heads high Italy.

Go get the 5th star!