Thank You America

for having such a good sense of humour. I just returned from a whirl-wind visit with my kith and kin in the USA. A week to recover and back to work. In the meantime here is a reference to one of our family's favourite indie bands:

1812: "Pro Ecclesia reminds us how important this date in history is...

For a uniquely Canadian perspective we have the 'Arrogant Worms'






DISCLAIMER: OBNOXIOUS BUT HARMLESS"

(Via island breezes.)

PASWO?

PASWO blogging is a concept I just learned about from Joshua Claybourn at In The Agora. I've been doing something akin to this for the last few months.

I have had a daily routine of checking my blog aggregator, NewNewsWire, daily to catch up on the world. Most items would get only a cursory scan, but some would draw my attention. When I realized that I could directly blog from NetNewsWire via MarsEdit, I decided I would share some of those items I found interesting. This would help justify the existence of the blog I had started up some time ago, not to mention justifying the daily slog of scanning a select portion of the blogosphere for a hour or two each day.

This way of doing things largely devolved into "Gee, look at this" kinds of posts with little significant commentary from me; a line or two and then the citation being referred to. I'm not clear that this is necessarily a bad thing. But, it does look similar to joining a conversation, literal or electronic, and simply saying, "yeah, what he said", which is a waste of time for everyone concerned.

On the other hand, not everyone who might read my blog, a small but elite clientele, necessarily is connected to the same feeds that I am. So I might be providing a service to my anonymous readers by pointing them to interesting items or blogs. It is in that hope that I continue to do PASWO blogging

Whither the Human Rights Industry?

Are we slowly heading into an Orwellian nightmare for those who don't think correctly?

Catholicism - A Hate Crime in Canada?:

‘If one, because of one’s sincerely held moral beliefs, whether it be Jew, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, opposes the idea of same-sex marriage in Canada, is that considered ‘hate’?’

The question was not rhetorical. Nor was it theoretical. Fr. Alphonse de Valk,…

(Via Catholic Exchange.)

A Long Read

While recuperating. The ideas presented here are thought provoking and don't fall into the usual "good guy/bad guy" typology. The writer's hope that un-elected bodies can be set up (by the very politicians who are responsible for this current mess) to define truth disinterestedly seems naive to me. To attempt to define truth as an objective reality you must first believe it exists and then believe that we are at least theoretically capable of knowing it. The present generation trained in the same university system as the complainants may not be able to grasp those ideas.

But the post is worth a read for it's dispassionate take on the conflict being acted out in the basement of the Law Courts building:

Covenant Zone: "Thoughts on seeing a human rights tribunal in action
I have been reflecting on a little time spent at the British Columbia Human Rights tribunal on Monday, mostly spent listening to the testimony of Khurrum Awan, the young man largely responsible for starting the ball rolling on what became the Mohamed Elmasry/CIC complaint against Maclean's. "

(Via Andrew Coyne's Blog.)

This is Not Therapeutic

But several of the blogs I follow are ablaze with the Mark Steyn/Maclean's magazine prosecution in a B.C. Human Rights tribunal, now in it's second day. I've had some experience with quasi-judicial bodies, having been before the Labour Relations Board, once as a complainant.

What struck me then, in my callow youth, was how chummy all the lawyers on all sides (Union, Employer & LRB) were. This was conducted in a less formal version of court, but had well established procedures and precedents, all administered by or at least vetted by competent lawyers.

The HRC's, on the other hand, act as if quasi-judicial means "make it up as you go along". A less competent group to decide whose speech will be free cannot be imagined. And we owe this to politicians trying earn votes by sloppily crafting laws and handing over their administration to apparatchiks and grievance-mongers. This is isn't helping my recovery at all:

Steynianism 159: "~ AND JUST WHO ARE these three kangaroo court ‘judges’?; The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal: we have jurisdiction over all political discourse!; on B.C.’s quirk; looks like Triple jeopardy; Now Faisal Joseph wants to have the Tribunal discuss the TVO show; Now Awan is blaming TVO!; This isn’t a law suit; Memories of Khurrum; Awan can dish it out — but he can’t take it; Who died and made Elmasry the Muslim Pope? Like Mohammed Elmasry, I blame the Jews …. (ezralevant.com)"

(Via Free Mark Steyn!.)

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I'm under the weather today, so this post from Island Breezes is very therapeutic:

Jesterlicious: "The Curt Jester Reports :

'The Illinois senator said he and his wife Michelle were withdrawing from the 8,000-strong congregation of the Trinity United Church of Christ, following a new uproar over a priest's mocking attack on his rival Hillary Clinton...The Senator then went on to tell reporters that he is currently in the hunt for a new church to attend. 'I am currently leaning towards an"

(Via island breezes.)