Preserving Italy's - and Europe's - Heritage Is A Challenge

I am intrigued by Italy's cultural patrimony and the subsequent need and challenges to protect it.

What makes Italy different from almost any nation on earth is the sheer size and magnitude of its cultural heritage. I can understand why Italy sometimes can look 'shabby' to outsiders. It just doesn't, despite having more cultural research experts than any country, have the resources to maintain all of its treasures. Which is why they're turned to the private sector for help.

Excerpts from Der Spiegel:

Culture is Italy's natural resource, almost like oil for the Middle East. It is home to 44 UNESCO World Heritage sites, about 5,000 museums and 60,000 archeological sites, more than any other country in the world. But Italy's treasures are not being kept up. Under former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the government's cultural budget shrank by a third within three years. His finance minister defended the cuts by saying: "I don't know what all the fuss is about. After all, you can't eat culture."

Today only €1.4 billion ($1.86 billion) is devoted to culture -- less than 0.2 percent of the national budget. Author Umberto Eco calls it the "anorexia of culture." It has been the Italian reality for years, and now Prime Minister Mario Monti is seeking to limit the damage.

In Rome, Diego Della Valle, 58, was considered a pioneer of sponsoring, but now his private initiative threatens to fail in the face of bureaucracy and sovereignty in matters of cultural heritage preservation. Last year, Valle, the owner of the Tod's shoe company, prevailed over other interested parties, including low-cost carrier Ryanair and real estate companies, and received the exclusive rights for the visual use of the Coliseum in Rome. In return, he promised to spend €25 million on a complete renovation of the 2,000-year-old structure, including the construction of a visitors' center. 
Rome Mayor Giovanni Alemanno was thrilled.

But then the union representing cultural workers sued because it believes that the process is illegal. The renovation work was scheduled to begin in March, but nothing happened. And earlier this month, when Pope Benedict XVI held the traditional Good Friday Procession at the Coliseum, a spotlight was shone once again on the poor condition of the structure, with its crumbling mortar and blackened façade, the result of being surrounded by busy traffic arterials in the middle of Rome.

Since thefinancial collapse of the last two years, Pompeii has become the symbol of a decaying country, culturally bankrupt and crippled by political gladiators whose official limousines allegedly cost twice as much as the country's cultural budget. Three million tourists visit the sites each year, paying an entrance fee of €11 apiece, revenues that come in addition to the subsidies from Rome. But the constantly changing superintendents have wasted the money on elaborate shows or spent it on the €6 million concrete restoration of the Grand Theater.

A red carpet, now much worse for wear, that was rolled out for a visit by Berlusconi is still lying on the path to the villa of Marcus Lucretius, the most powerful moneylender in the city. A few years ago, Berlusconi declared a state of emergency in Pompeii, because the city was controlled by stray dogs and mafia-like gangs of tour guides, and only a fraction of the houses could still be visited. But he never showed up, not even when the famous gladiator school collapsed in late 2010, an incident President Giorgio Napolitano called a "disgrace for Italy."

But in Pompeii's sister city Herculaneum, the American David Woodley Packard, son of the founder of Hewlett-Packard, is ensuring that 30 conservators are working to preserve the ancient city, and there is now money available for research and new excavations. The Herculaneum Conservation Project, together with the British School at Rome, has already invested €15 million, and there are no advertising panels to be seen.

There are reportedly already 20,000 of these private initiatives in Italy, where citizens are establishing local heritage museums and paying for the preservation of historic sites. In Rome, a group of concerned citizens even occupied the Teatro Valle, which they are now running. They all benefit from the fact that the government is so weak.

A discussion on this from Net-Heritage and need for Heritage research across Europe in which Italy is seen as a leader.

The Ghost Of Mayor Drapeau And Illusions Of Grandeur Lost

The other day I was listening to a local sports radio talk show and discovered there's some interest in bringing an NBA team to the city.

Basketball? Really? In a city that could not support baseball over the long haul, barely supports its football team that's been around on and off since 1949 and Impact with its dipping attendance despite MLS being the fastest growing league having recently surpassed the NBA?

With such a spotty record we want to now bring a sport with next to no roots in the city? Really?

Based on what? Our population? Frankly, I admit I'm just not seeing the rationale on how this could work over the short-term; let alone in the long-term.

Have we already forgotten the Montreal Matrix? Seems to me, one step toward getting a pro team is to prove you can support smaller ones, no? Small steps and all that.

Maybe if they add poker machines at games they may have a shot I reckon.

Yes. It is true basketball is growing in Canada; particularly in Ontario and slowly in Quebec. The country is now consistently producing high if not number one overall drafts in the NBA and regularly have starters in top flight American college programs from Kansas to Gonzaga. Basketball Canada is finally doing something right and they deserve full credit for it.

A similar process unfolded when the Alouettes (Alouettes are Larks by the way for those of you wondering) came back to Montreal in the mid 1990s. Quebec quickly became the hub for manufacturing dominant football in the University ranks led by the Laval Rouge et Or and later Carribins of UM.

However, all this doesn't necessarily translate into maintaining a sports team of a sustained, long-term period. If it were, places like Minnesota (a state mad for hockey and famous for producing legendary players), would have never lost the North Stars.

Realistically and frankly, it takes a willingness to lose money (which we've already witnessed with the last consortium who owned the Expos in its last days are not privy to do) and stay the course in order to build a franchise from novelty to champion.

Not in Montreal. We can't be bothered with those things. We swing for the fences.

Call it the ghost of Jean Drapeau. His grand dreams stalk us at every turn.

Let's go over a couple of reasons why I think this, while appreciated by sports fans, is not all that a good idea.

Over the years I've made plain my view arguing Montreal is not a sports town but more of a city partial to short-term events. Our short and hedonistic attention span is perfect for one day events.

Indeed Montreal is outstanding for festivals, F1 racing, hosting pre-season baseball, international competitions and Grey Cups). Short and sweet with no commitments. It's almost as if we traded our championship mentality for the less stressful attraction of festivals.

Nonetheless, whenever someone brings up the thought of bringing a pro team here we can't resist. We want to sit at the big boy table but still want to be breast fed. After all, our financial inferiority complex towards Toronto never strays too far off our psyche.

It's a mentality last solidified during the glory years of this city, say, roughly between the 1950s and mid-1980s when the Habs were generating dynasties every decade, the Alouettes were winning titles and the Expos were promising darlings poised to join their brethren in the ranks of perennial success.

Alas, the good times are no more but the mentality remains. I don't begrudge this nor do I find it abnormal. Many fan bases with a rich history cling on to the past; nay, entire nations still harken back to their respective golden ages.

It's just that it should be tempered to a certain degree with pragmatic and realistic notions and ideas.

And thinking we're a first rate sports town, in my opinion, is not realistic anymore.

The fact we're event driven became all too evident to me the day the Expos skipped town. It's not a sports culture and client base meant to support a team over 41 (or 81) dates anymore. Our delusions of grandeur are far in excess of our willingness to pay and support to achieve it. We want to be at the big boy table but want the other guy to pay.

That goes for both ownership and fans.

Once in a blue moon, Montreal is lucky to have a good owner. But they have been few and far between. Obviously, there was Charles Bronfman. Today, it's Joey Saputo and his commitment to the Montreal Impact (though I wonder how long before he too is frustrated with our fickle fan base). Robert Wettenhall has been exemplary providing stable ownership. And finally, of course, the Molsons?

What about George Gillette? The American businessman purchased the Habs in 2001 after the city's local business class failed to step up to the plate. It was perplexing given how much space the team takes up on the cultural side of the equation.  Again, it's Montreal so no surprise as it took an American to see the value and build it into a billion dollar enterprise.

God bless Warren Cromartie and his aim to bring baseball back to Montreal. I wish him luck and do plan to support it financially but I remain somewhat skeptical of the plan.

All this adds up to a healthy skepticism.

Montreal has been a stagnant, if not, a sinking ship for decades now. We're surpassed in many economic metrics by just about every city that matters.

We're no longer calibrated to achieve greatness.

Once upon a time Mayor Drapeau dreamed big. He brought Expo 67, the Expos and Olympics to the city -. He even envisioned a stadium that would accommodate the Alouettes and Expos (which turned out to be the Olympic Stadium) and went as far as to think of an NFL team.

But with these dreams came stark realities and among them is the fact that having a pro sports team demands commitment and loyalty.

And I'm not so sure we have that.

***

Montreal reminds me of Uncle Rico. Living in the past and confounded on how to progress:

Daily Dope: Proving Derp Never Peaks

More on Preet the Legal Prat for Mimesis Law.

Before United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York was disgraced by his subordinate’s handling of the Reason subpoena, his “legacy” as avenging angel of white collar crime had already been tainted by the Second Circuit’s reversal of insider trading charges against two hedge fund guys, Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson.

For those not following any criminal case without obvious blood, the circuit held that insider trading didn’t travel downstream, and that information that eventually found its way into people’s heads who weren’t party to the initial improper disclosure could not be found criminally liable.  It was both a huge decision, and a crushing blow for Preet Bharara, second only to being upstaged at Harvard Law School by Mindy Kaling.

/quietly turns woodchipper on.

***

Not that we needed Politifact to point out Harvey Birdman's (aka Obama) laughably ridiculous claim that mass shootings don't happen in advanced countries with such frequency.

As the statistics show, not only is that flat out not true (yes, I'm calling him a liar and an opportunist on the Charleston tragedy...and a commie just because) but the USA is not even the worst country!

Stats. Pft.

Read this chart.

***

Fall of the West reason 575474555696977979898989989889:

"Commenters, especially anonymous commenters, can get a little bit negative online. To say the least. But in the interest of promoting open discourse, places like the United States and the European Union have tended toward the idea that websites aren't responsible for the junk their commenters post. For example, Section 230 of the United States' Communications Decency Act says that a given entity isn't the "publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

Europe is what we call a shit hole when it comes to individual freedom of speech.

They're, quite frankly, frightening in their collectivist insanity.

If trends continue as they are, it'll be the case here.

***

Paper of record fooled by 16 year-old.

But I thought it was Fox who reported false stuff.

That’s right: the shooter of nine people was a “brony”—a male devotee of the children’s TV show.
The only problem? It was all a complete fabrication by Wareing, a British 16-year-old with a Hotmail email address who never met or communicated with Roof, he told Fusion today. He never found a Tumblr account belonging to Roof, and the My Little Pony detail was created out of thin air, he said.

The Times were too busy cumming on each other because they finally got their redneck hick killing black people spree after sooooo many years. They were dying to pin any weird stuff on the nut.

***

Support for gun rights on the rise, while death by firearms on a downward trend.

Not a good combo for the left-wing narrative.

Birdman and the gun grabbers has a sads.

***

People still listen to this doomsday gasbag Ehrlich?

He claims humans face mass exctinction. Maybe the moon rocks are placed a certain way?

The study - they're all studies - claim we're entering an extinction phase. So drink!

But will we reach peak derp before then?

***

Then again....



***

Website worth checking.

The Freeman.

***

"In 1798 Thomas Robert Malthus inaugurated a grand tradition of environmentalism with his best-selling pamphlet on population. Malthus argued with impeccable logic but distinctly peccable premises that since population tended to increase geometrically (1,2,4,8 ) and food supply to increase arithmetically (1,2,3,4 ), the starvation of Great Britain was inevitable and imminent. Almost everybody thought he was right. He was wrong.
 
In 1865 an influential book by Stanley Jevons argued with equally good logic and equally flawed premises that Britain would run out of coal in a few short years' time. In 1914, the United States Bureau of Mines predicted that American oil reserves would last ten years. In 1939 and again in 1951, the Department of the Interior said American oil would last 13 years. Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong."

“Plenty of Gloom”, The economist Dec 18th 1997

"Ha,ha." The Commentator, June 2015.

***

Predictions.

Pft.



***

Oh California. As pointed out in the last Daily. Didn't believe me, eh?

“America is the land of opportunity,” “There is only one race, the human race” and “I believe the most qualified person should get the job” are among a long list of alleged microaggressions faculty leaders of the University of California system have been instructed not to say."

Tomorrow's leaders and politicians folks. Be ready. It's gonna get ugly. Real ugly.

Daily Round Up: The Return

The scourge of entitlement:

"The Carroll County Board of Commissioners and county schools officials are considering a proposal to provide free tuition to Carroll Community College to the children of county employees and teachers.

Commissioner Dennis Frazier, R-District 3, introduced the proposal at a June 10 joint meeting between the commissioners and the school board as a way to attract and retain teachers in Carroll. Frazier again brought up the idea at the community college's board of trustees meeting on June 17.
"My idea is anyone who works for Carroll County should be able to send their kids to Carroll Community College for free. If we can start with teachers, we could eventually offer free tuition to county employees," said Frazier, an ex-officio member of the community college board."

Fuck you. If you're not honest about the fact you use self-entitlement to get free shit from other people's money then you deserve no respect.

***

About those record corporate profits.

Yeah.

No.

***

Like I said, The Daily Beast is the only liberal site I can digest and respect. Even their commenters give me hope.

DB tackles the insane attack of freedom of speech on college campuses.

Something Daniel Pipes and Martin Kramer have been discussing for over a decade now.

***

Oh. You want more examples?

"Campus-climate surveys distributed at several major universities included a trigger warning to alert students that some of the questions would contain “anatomical names of body parts” because apparently seeing those words might be traumatic."

***

More?

You people are masochists!

Some phrases now deemed unacceptable and classified as 'micro-aggressions':

“There is only one race, the human race.”
“America is a melting pot.”
“I don’t believe in race.”
To a person of color: “Are you sure you were being followed in the store? I can’t believe it.”
“I believe the most qualified person should get the job.”
“Of course he’ll get tenure, even though he hasn’t published much — he’s Black!”
“Men and women have equal opportunities for achievement.”
“Gender plays no part in who we hire.”
“America is the land of opportunity.”
“Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough.”
“Affirmative action is racist.”

What a future filled with losers we have lined up.

***

What do you mean losers?

Well.

***

Aaron Driver is a despicable human being without a soul and much of a brain.

But he shouldn't be in prison for uttering ISIS sympathies.

Let him go fight alongside with them and see first hand what one of humanity's most depraved band of deranged degenerates are capable of.

The thought police is not something in neat novels anymore.

It actually happens.

***

A couple of years ago I watched part of an episode where celebrities seek their ancestral roots. In this particular episode Harry Connick jr. discovered his family owned slaves. His disgust upon discovering this points to the bizarre notion of somehow because someone did something bad in the past reflects upon you today.

It's actually an irrational and emotional response.

If anything, I think Connick should be disgusted with his father:

"The prosecutorial misconduct in Thompson’s case was no anomaly. According to a report by the Innocence Project of New Orleans, District Attorney Harry F. Connick’s office withheld evidence favorable to the defense in at least nine death row cases. Four death row convictions were overturned because of the misconduct.

In spite of this legacy, the Supreme Court ruled that the violation in the Thompson case was “a single incident,” and that no pattern of misconduct could be established. The majority opinion acknowledges the four other overturned convictions but argues that they don’t count because different types of evidence were withheld in those cases. In her dissent, Justice Ginsburg writes, “the conceded, long-concealed prosecutorial transgressions were neither isolated nor atypical.” She cites ten items of evidence that were withheld from Thompson’s defense, including police reports, audiotapes and blood evidence that would have seriously undermined Thompson’s conviction. "

***

Justice Roberts strikes again.

This time he essentially reworked the stated intent of the ACA to fit his decision to uphold the subsidies stating essentially that words don't matter in such legal matters.

Welcome to the new tyranny.

The prosecutorial misconduct in Thompson’s case was no anomaly. According to a report by the Innocence Project of New Orleans, District Attorney Harry F. Connick’s office withheld evidence favorable to the defense in at least nine death row cases. Four death row convictions were overturned because of the misconduct.

In spite of this legacy, the Supreme Court ruled that the violation in the Thompson case was “a single incident,” and that no pattern of misconduct could be established. The majority opinion acknowledges the four other overturned convictions but argues that they don’t count because different types of evidence were withheld in those cases. In her dissent, Justice Ginsburg writes, “the conceded, long-concealed prosecutorial transgressions were neither isolated nor atypical.” She cites ten items of evidence that were withheld from Thompson’s defense, including police reports, audiotapes and blood evidence that would have seriously undermined Thompson’s conviction. - See more at: http://www.innocenceproject.org/news-events-exonerations/holding-prosecutors-accountable#sthash.qK3gKUKI.dpuf

Of Apple, Nonsense And Flags

It's not a coming Dark Age.

It has arrived.

Apple bans Civil War games. 

Yes. We've arrived to the point where significant parts of a nation's history should be scrubbed. This is how shallow we've become as a species.

This is not the first CEO Tim Cook takes a specious if not vapid position on social issues. Recall his opinion siding with a couple of whiny, petulant douches who wanted a cake baked for them under the banner of 'human rights'. Maybe a certain pound of perspective would do these prats some good. Like, say, seeing what real human rights abuses for gays are like under ISIS? Then again, the left's take on Middle-East is filled with contradictions, hypocrisy and downright stupidity.

Anyway. Amazon and Wal-Mart disappointingly also piled on the irrational reaction to one nut job's killing spree.

All feel better and safer now? Are we closer to a post-racial society?

Back to rotten Apple. Wonder how they will handle the Nazi symbol that show up on WWII games. I'm pretty sure they don't mind rap music lyrics, rape and murder in many video games, right?

These sorts of myopic decisions open up all sorts of doors that shouldn't be open.

But it goes beyond this. The history of a nation can't be undone by removing symbols. It won't even start a healing process. It's hard to believe people in position of power could be so vain as they are profoundly ignorant. Which only reinforces my belief we suspend rational thought for appeals to emotions. We value superficial action over acts of substance.

For a thoughtful account of the Confederate flag go to Reason.

***

In many ways, we haven't much evolved from the Dark Ages. That the actions of one individual likely gripped by mental illness is somehow correlated and funneled into a flag is a stretch for a reasonable mind. Alas, we live in extremist times where progressives hold irrational opinions on economics, climate and freedom of speech. Freedom of conscience is a value to be subjugated to other groups and not the individual possessed of personal moral agency. We've been, essentially, stripped of our individualism.

It is interesting to look at history. The parts we dislike especially. For instance:

"Segregation is not humiliating, but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen. If your organization goes out and tells the colored people of the country that it is a humiliation, they will so regard it, but if you do not tell them so, and regard it rather as a benefit, they will regard it the same. The only harm that will come will be if you cause them to think it is a humiliation."

Who said the above?

Hint. He was an intellectual, progressive tyrant. The same group who thought, moreover, eugenics was a great idea. And if you think that was a monetary lapse of reason among the left think again. Notice how the irrational Gaians often speak of 'population control' in the context of climate change.

So where does it end? We just want to ban the flag. Nothing more. We promise.

Crowds that utter such evil shouldn't be encouraged in my view. But they scream so loud we're bound to fall prey to their howls. It never stops at where they say it will.

They always want more. Give them an inch, they will want it all.

 

See. We're already hearing people call for the removal of the Jefferson memorial because he owned slaves! Never mind the gigantic intellect of a man that would tower above most middling minds we see today. Nope. He had...slaves. Ergo, be gone!

It's how petty, little tyrants operate, you know?

 

Never mind that Lincoln is untouchable even though the Civil War had little to do with slavery and was essentially an illegal war as Lincoln seemed to admit. 

 

Martin Luther king? Yeah, he was an adulterer who supported the NRA and gun rights.

What to do with him?

 

Hey, look. Surprise, surprise. They want to ban the flag on the General Lee on Dukes of Hazzard. 

 

The NY Post -a conservative leaning paper - had a writer assert Warner should pull Gone with the Wind from the shelves. Because? You got it. Confederate flags.

 

Does one not see the utter degenerate idiocy of such positions? Do one believe Mark Twain novels (novels that were meant to humanize the negro) be banned because of the word 'nigger'?

How thoroughly anti-intellectual and dehumanized we've become!

Should Americans unpresident and unperson such people? 

 

You can't scrub history with empty gestures. You can't revise it  by applying contemporary views.  For people who claim to be so nuanced they sure have a concrete outlook.

 

Scrub history and you get, well, deception.

And deception is what will condemn us to a mediocre future doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Climate In Permanent Change Mode

INT. DAY. Decadent boardroom decked with opulent ornaments including statues of Gaia. Assortment of doomsday cultists, environmentalists, Marxists, communists, scientists and politicians alike discuss weather and climate. Mark stands up, carefully tings his glass of Spumante to get everyone's attention.

Mark: Ahem, attention everyone. I'd just like to say the climate is the single most important issue that faces our species today. We must act now to stop it! It makes no difference if it's cooling or warming. What matters is we control the pattern of climate to save us from nature; from ourselves!

Shouts of 'hear hear!'

Lone dissenting voice: But what if we're wrong? What if all this energy spent is based on false and faulty premises?

Mark (yawns): Shoot him.

Shots fired. Body whisked away. Some of the people gathered are shocked.

Mark: As I was saying. We will crush anyone who denies our enlightened project.

Man: But dear Mark! What are we to do? Surely time is against us!

Mark: Time is always against man. We will find ways to curb time as well. Time change is next. Oh, yes. Mark (ha, ha) my words!

Murmurs of 'time change?' whistles through the boardroom.

Mark: Look. It's simple fellas. Do you want to control people or not?

Shouts of 'yes we do'! 

Mark: Then shut the fuck up because I can make it happen! Yes we can!

Chants of 'Forward' grow louder and louder as Mark looks on approvingly. Tables begin to shake. People faint from the fanaticism. Glasses break. Chairs fall over. 'Forward! 

He leaves for another room.

Mark (face palm): God these people are idiots.

Calls assistant over.

Mark: Make sure you cut up their vegetables in small circles with not sharp corners so as to avoid chocking and for the love of God squish the avocado to a paste! 

Assistant: Anything else?

Mark: Yeah. Bring some helmets. Some of these people really look like they can hurt themselves.

***

Britain faces FREEZING winters as slump in solar activity threatens 'little Ice Age'

 But....

Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past

 But.... (on the other hand)

 Solar energy is absolutely a viable source of reliable energy for Britain! 

 

 

Bullies On Reason

Steyn on Reason.

It's easy to just forget about what the government did to Reason magazine; especially if you don't read the publication. Out of sight, out of mind, right? This is precisely when you should care for the injurious and outrageous action of  US Attorney Preet Bharara and Assistant US Attorney Niketh Velamoor as well as Judge Frank Maas (I can't believe someone didn't read the comments and kicked those two out of the office).  It literally can happen to anyone; even you.

There is no such thing as 'if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about' these days in North America. You can run afoul with your Top Men betters at any given point if your timing is miserable and if they want to make an example of you. Oh, and they will find a way as we've learned. They will stretch the law to make it fit whatever they want while Judges will just go along for the ride.

Exactly who do these guys think they are? That they carry a badge and wear a robe they think they can treat citizens in this manner? If you ask, me they deserve every single verbal chewing they get for they made their beds. And then some. Same for Judge Katherine Forrest. In fact, I'm gonna find a way to memorialize these four on this blog. The Four Fuckeroos vs. The Woodchipper Boys documentary or something.

Makes you wish there was a chute you can open and send them to the back of the line flipping burgers or something. Actually, flipping burgers is an honorable job next to what these bullies pulled.

You know, I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth wasting a perfectly fine woodchipper on these idiots.

I post about it for the simple reason, as Steyn points out, they must know and learn they aren't above the law or citizens no matter what they think in their petty, egotistical minds.

"...Indeed. Reason's attorney Gayle Sproul called Assistant Goon Velamoor to talk over the case. Assistant Goon Velamoor then went and got his gag order yet did not send it to Counselor Sproul but to Reason's publisher, Mr Alissi, direct. Popehat again:

Niketh Velamoor had three purposes in sending that message directly to Alissi: to vent the petulance of momentarily thwarted power, to intimidate Reason by threatening it directly, and to undermine the relationship between Reason and its attorney.

That's right. I know next to nothing about the law, as Popehat will be the first to tell you, but I'm in enough suits at any one time that, of the two or three things I do know, one is that it's a serious breach for one lawyer to bypass the other lawyer and contact the opposing party directly. If me or my lawyer were to call Michael Mann up at home to run a draft pleading by him, the court would come down on us very hard. No doubt Frank Rubber-Stamp Maas will take a more indulgent view. But when the Government does it, it's even worse: it's an exercise in pure muscle."

Niketh sounds like a really upstanding and professional guy. A real credit to his peers and profession. A laugh and riot a minute at the local watering hole and bowling alley.  A positive influence on all things decent and legal.

Remember. All over a couple of words uttered in obvious frustration on a comments thread.

"...But whoop-de-doo. My description of Michael E Mann's "hockey stick" graph is also protected speech, and so, after it's cost me half-a-decade of my life and a significant seven-figure sum, some judge marginally less inept than Natalia Combs Greene (or, if we take the really long road, five out of nine judges, and a significant eight-figure sum) will rule that it was legal for me to say what I said. And then everyone will say, "Well, the process worked" - as some boobs did up north after Maclean's and I saw off no fewer than three "human rights" commissions.
Hard to believe even people who've never been in court can believe that that's the process "working". John Hayward quotes a familiar line:

As author Mark Steyn, embroiled in his own ridiculous Kafka nightmare in defense of his free speech rights, has observed: "The process is the punishment." The Reason authors point out that fighting the government in a situation like this can be enormously expensive and time-consuming. There is virtually no way to "quash" such a flimsy investigation at the outset; once the government pulls you into its legal roller coaster, you have to take the ride.

Indeed. They can ruin you with the process. And the finks know it.

The process didn't work, The process is corrupted and shallow is what it is.

***

Las Vegas Review Journal.

People are talking.

And that's a good thing.

The Government Tries To Bully Free Speech At Reason

I have dozens upon dozens of links and articles to get to which I hope to start pimping out like a Duggar.

Most notable among them is the aggressive thuggery from the office of Pweet Bhara against Reason Magazine and six anonymous commenters in the aftermath of the Silk Road verdict handed down by one Judge Katherine Forrest.

It was an egregious assault on civil liberties of epic proportions filled with bull shit subpoenas and gag orders. The U.S. government, with all it has to deal with, was pushing its fat weight around going after six little commenters for saying vulgar things. Seems throwing one kid in prison for life wasn't enough for them. Nope. They wanted more. Like Zombies who can't get enough of human flesh.

The one thing that immediately came into my head is just how many smaller entities that can't fight back have these people accosted?

There isn't a woodchipper large enough that can take in the utter thin-skinned arrogance of these clowns. I have quite a few choice words and descriptive adjectives for what I think of these bullies.

But (perhaps) more on that later. In the meantime, you can read about it here at Reason.

Popehat was, I believe, the first major blog to discuss the matter.

I think it's only fair to disclose I'm an active member of Reason magazine and its community including financially supporting the publication with donations.

Why?

Reason is the single most influential and interesting magazine I've come across having me get in touch with classical liberal thought long forgotten. They discuss essential topics with a sharp consistency and offer clarity in a time where hyperbolic and emotional impulses drive narratives as well as, most important, a principled stance in the defense of human liberty. There isn't one publication that goes to such great lengths perhaps save some conservative presses.

But what makes Reason especially unique are its commenters. There isn't a more eccentric, successful, well-versed, well-traveled collection of diverse and interesting characters and personalities in one single community than what blesses Reason. It is everything you expect and demand from free minds. It is indeed the 'Animal House' of comments threads on the internet but do not be fooled by the vulgarity and calculated and deliberate insistence on immature banter.

Nestled inside the loud talking, burping and swearing is the dizzying collection of links accompanied with more thoughtful, lucid and intelligent comments you'll likely find anywhere.

And funny as hell too.

Remember 7:01!

So Fucking What? Phrase Of The Century

“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what."

Stephen Fry

Exactly.

So fucken what you're offended.

Quote Of The Day

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

Mark Twain

Are you listening Gaianticians? (Climate change cultists) and food nannies?

Will Post About The Department Of Justice Retarded Bullying Of Reason Magazine Shortly

What a bunch of ass clowns is all I'm gonna say for now.

And. Get a hair cut and a real job you thugs.

Cartoon Of The Day

Yes, my Daily Roundup is backed up.

Enjoy this for now.

Bill 101: Quebec's Hillbilly Tag

I've hit a bit of a wall. But leave it to Quebec to pull me back in.

Couillard is going full hillbilly suggesting tightening Bill 101 for corporations is on the horizon claiming it's a question of 'courtesy.'

The stupid. It burns. Not a shred of fucken evidence international signs are A) rude and B) hurt Quebec's French language. A language, I might add, they teach poorly.

How many ways can we call this mentality hick?

Moreover, why do they insist on causing linguistic tension where there is none except for the usual idiots? Why would you antagonize big business this way? 

Courtesy my ass. But he has no problem that Cirque du Soleil keeps its French name abroad correct?

Quebec needs to get over itself. Seriously.


Extremely disappointed in Couillard.

I thought he was smarter than that.

Personally, I wish companies just turn around and calculate it's not worth putting up with Quebec's insecure rubbish and pull out or avoid the province.

Not only that, I will increase my shopping in the USA - exchange rate be damn.

Land Of The Free In Rhetoric Only

Man, this has been a horrible past couple of weeks for freedom of speech and expression.

We all know it's a matter of time before speech gets more and more regulated - the 'I'm for free speech but' assholes are winning the war.

Take for instance the degenerates over at the Department Of Justice (ha, ha) going after six commenters at Reason.com.

As an avid reader of Reason, I actually recognized a couple of those names and lemme tell ya, that the DOJ is wasting their time with this only makes me wonder about the overall usefulness to humanity they represent.

The others are infrequent commenters and don't reflect at all the overall essence of Reason. Though, the community can be highly critical of the Obama administration (rightfully so) as they were with Bush. Obama is not a fricken god. He's a politician and criticism of him is just, legal, and essential to a vibrant citizenry. 

The most powerful nation in world history now goes after comments threads.

Seems like the DOJ is taking seriously the 'violent' rhetoric directed at the judge who ruled in the Silk Road case. A ruling that was so outrageous it made mockery of the idea of justice in the United States.

Quite frankly, the judge deserves every single hard and harsh criticism hurled her way. From what I read, corruption filled the DEA and FBI ranks in the matter. Alas, they got their man, right?

Apparently, in America you're increasingly not allowed to insult your betters in law enforcement.

It's a chilling and sober reminder of all that I (and many others) rail against when it comes to the coercive arm of the state. If it so chooses, they will destroy you.

They'll call it justice but it's easy to cynically assert it has nothing to do with it.

I am quite comfortable in asserting that the people who put this sucker in prison for life with no parole serve little valuable function to humanity.

He deserved a punishment but not this.

But hey. They all sleep at night believing justice was served.

And that's all that matters.

***

Reason itself has faced attacks from middling little minds. Take, for instance, the hipster twirps at the laughably named rationalwiki who probably can't tell the difference between St. Jerome, Frederick Bastiat and a flapping, flying mechanized vagina because of the mulch that clogs up their mundane brains.

Let's get one thing straight. There are very few publications out there as honest, and philosophically consistent and intelligent as Reason. Absent are the shrill antics and vapid appeals to emotions and hyper-partisan garbage that has come to mark contemporary North American politics.

Moreover, that the left-wing, know-nothing, smart-alec, statist poops who make up the vast nether world of stagnant pseudo-intellectualism (and comedians) don't grasp the basic easily understood tenets of classical liberal/libertarian thought only serves to point to their abject ignorance and boring stupidity.  It's not surprising they hold the oft abstract and nuanced and profoundly varied comments threads laced with wicked humor (not always suited for the corroded irrational impulses of the misguided, dishonorable pearl clutching PC/SJW crowd) filled with a gigantic collection of spirited, well-traveled, educated, successful, interesting and eclectic free and independent minds with such contempt.

It's too much for their cemented and demented zero-sum and trivial pontifications to process.

Where was I?

Oh yes.

My bagel is ready.

Harper Falls In Line With The Climate Cult

Harper commits to reducing fossil fuels by 20-something.

So, so disappointed in him.

Quote Of The Day

Yes, yes, I'm working on a Daily Derp Update. Hold you panties.

But for now behold the sparkles of intellectualism courtesy of the comments community over at the New York Times:

Jim NYC 21 hours ago
All of Uber's statements are Orwellian. Case in point: 'demands of the marketplace.' When you break laws and avoid regulations to gain advantage and undercut legitimate business, it no longer qualifies as free market supply and demand.
Reply 114Recommend

115 people can really be this insipid, eh?

Taxis are monopolized and unionized racket, pal.

Uber is the greatest thing to happen to this industry. And in case you haven't noticed you illiterate (the only Orwellian gibberish I see is in the comment), Uber's wild popularity is an example of 'demands of the marketplace' you communist buffoon. People like Jim would have you forced to accept inferior service because 'social good'.

I absolutely love how Uber has statists like this guy creating drops of salty tears.

 

Gun Violence On Decline In The U.S.

I'm starting to lose my energy to blog.

I endeavor, however, to carry on.

Anyway.

Celebrities (is there anything they don't know?) are kicking up a 'Wear Orange' campaign against gun violence.

Filling in their 'I dids somtings fors goods' quota I reckon.

Here's some information easily accessible on the internet (punch in, for example, 'gun violence decline United States statistic) and watch the magic unfold before your eyes drowning you in knowledge.

Like this from Pew Research:

"Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware"

Or CNN.

Or Fact Check.

These are just some quick mainstream outlets reporting. There are other important studies easily found.

Which makes me wonder. Are these people that lazy that they can't use their fingers and brains the good Lord provided us to look this shit up?

And it's not like it's that complicated to rationalize or comprehend. Look at the trends, cross-reference the information with other sources and it should be suffice for you to, well, not feel the need to wear orange t-shirts.

I've provided plenty of interesting and legitimate gun stats over the last couple of years in addition to this so I've done my bit to dispel perceptions on gun violence helping to bring some light to the issue.

It's tiring to keep bringing perspective.

Staggering Hypocrisy

Three tobacco companies have been ordered to pay smokers $15 billion in 'moral' damages. The plaintiffs alleged the companies 'hid' the health risks associated with smoking.

Where to begin with the bull shit?

Moral? Shit, is this a road they want to go down? Government is but one gigantic cess pool of hypocritical and immoral activities who profit all this crap. The government is the last agent of morality we should be listening to.

The 'hid' argument rings hollow and asinine given cigarettes have been forced to disclose all sorts of Surgeon General warnings in their packs. People have been aware of the hazards of smoking since the 1960s as noted by its 'cancer stick' nickname.

It takes one special idiot to claim they didn't know of the dangers. The anti-smoking campaign as to be among one of the most ubiquitous awareness program I've come across. It's impossible to not have come across some literature on TV, papers or the radio saying as much. You can't take a piss without coming across a 'don't smoke' poster.

This line of defense should have been laughed off.

Ignorance, we're often told, is not a defense. Yet, somehow it is in this case.

What really annoys me is these sorts of settlements simply continue to signal to society they're not responsible for their own actions and choices. 'Oh, you got lung problems due to smoking a product no one forced you to purchase? Poor you! It's not your fault!'

Why stop at cigarettes? Why not go after alcohol for all the diseases - not to mention DUI's that result in death - it causes? What about the vice of gambling?

And in each of these three, the government collects an outrageous amount of taxes. The government, I reckon, actually pulls in more than the companies do in sales!

What about Coke, Pepsi, Folgers, Hershey's, Mr. Christie, McDonald's, and Tim Hortons? Why should they all get a free pass because of the hysteria surrounding health? After all, they're all producing 'junk food' and Lord knows people abuse those products.

The cult of the envy is also the cult of blame others.

Not good.

The UK Continues To Stink

What a tyrannical police state shit hole England is.

They jail a girl for two weeks because she makes too much noise while having sex?

All this nonsense is coming here.

Logical Ends

Taken from Skeptical Eye.

Is this the next logical step from the progressive movement? (I think we know the answer to that. See Singer).