Vancouver Hockey Riots

Following the Stanley Cup loss last week - the mostly young, inebriated crowd who watched the game at public venues downtown went on a destructive rampage.  It was terrible to watch (as I did the next day on the news) but I do not buy the Chief of Police's contention it was orchestrated bu "anarchists".  Alot of it was just the destructive power of crowds, fueled with a volatile mix of youth and alcohol.  

Christie Blatchford seemed to get it right.

Now we have a very regretful young man who seemed oblivious to his behaviour when caught video and show across the nation on the evening news - dealing with the consequences.

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courteous.ly from courteous ly on Vimeo.

Risks of Multiculturalism in UK

Risks of Multiculturalism, part 1 and 2

Michelle Bachmann's Gift for Fathers Day

Moneyball

Sept - I am looking foreward to this.

Modern-day White Slave Trade

A half-century ago - being kidnapped for the white slave trade was sum of all fears for young women - perhaps merely a fatasy. Now it is being seduced into sexual slavery off the streets of the west.  What on earth are we coming too?

[Image: Babylonian Marriage Market (1875) - Edwin Long. Long was one of my favourite "Pre-Raphelite" artists.  When exhibited in 1875, it caused a sensation.  Of course what was not in dispute was the veracity of such a thing as it has been well described in Herodotus Histories. Here is an critical look at the economics of such a practice.]

Tricks of your hearing

Ben Shapiro - Primetime Propaganda

Ben Shapiro talks about his book 'Primetime Propaganda' which exposes the liberal bias in Hollywood.

Shocking disclosures of deliberate liberal bias in Hollywood.

Best quote:

When I showed up for the interviews, I wore my Harvard Law baseball cap — my name is Ben Shapiro and I attended Harvard, so there’s a 98.7 percent chance I’m a liberal. Except I happen not to be.” 

ISRAELI PM URGES THE US TO RETURN TO 1845 BORDERS WITH MEXICO…….

Priceless parody of Obama`s dumb idea.

Example of how a major CEO makes a presentation to a City Council

Steve Jobs makes presentation to Cupertino CA City Council about his plans to build a new HQ on the site of former Hewlett-Packard Computer office site.  

He points out he is the largest tax-payer in the city and they would like to stay there.  Also he employees alot of (very rich) people like to live near where they work.  They run a special energy-efficient bus service.  About 12,900 people will work there (only about 20% more than the current facility) and it will turn what is a parking lot into a park (covert 80% asphalt into park and reduce building foot-print to 20% of site).

Questions about Health & Safety - of course - there are alot benefits.

Indoctrination at Duke University

Speech by noted right-wing commentator David Horowitz at Duke University on March 7, 2006 - only a week before the alleged rape of Crystal Magnum in the infamous case against members of the Duke Lacrosse Team.

Horowitz is discussing his book "101 most Dangerous Academics in America" that identifies the prevalent left-wing subversion of many of America's academics who are seriously hostile and dangerous to academic freedom in America.  He used examples of the statements made by "washed up Calypso singer" Harry Belafonte who spoke at Duke to honour Martin Luther King Day only a few weeks before. (Belafonte has been a "UN Goodwill Ambassador" for some time and his comments as repeated by Horowitz were outrageous!).

Anti-intellectual, intellectually bankrupt and ill-bred.

Ball State - peace studies not about peace or even academic. It lures students on grounds on social, economic, and political causes of war and peace but there is not a single Military Historian in any of the 250 Peace Studies programs in America. Opposition between those who believe "peace" is natural and institutions like the Military create wars/conflict vs. others who believe Conflict/War to be a natural  state between states or men and that Peace is an aberration, and the only circumstances that create peace are strong military presence that allow us to prevent hostilities. 

But "Peace Studies" are no more about the study of Peace, just like "Women's Studies" are not about the study of Women or Black Studies are anything to do with the study of African-Americans history, Society or Culture.  All of these viewpoints share a Marxist ideology that see America as an oppressive society which is the root cause of the attacks upon it.

Liberal Tourette Syndrome?

A pretty extended, humble, abject and I presume effective apology.  I never heard the original - but I can imagine what it may have been like.  I may have on occasion felt myself capable of a similar outburst.   But I think it's quite interesting that this Republican blog - decided to characterize it as "Liberal Tourette Syndrome" - especially so soon after Glen Beck has exited the stage.  What I find interesting is it does mark a new threshold that seems to be taking over - where once the Liberal/Left was comfortable to behave in this manner - nay almost demanded it - they now wallow in apology and self-abnegation if they dare lose it. Taking the high ground was never easy, but this seems to be the 1st step on that journey.

defn: Liberal Tourette Syndrome -  A philosophical tic exemplified by an uncontrollable urge to blurt obscenities and socially unacceptable, decidedly inappropriate remarks.

Improving Leadership Contests

This article in the Ed Journal highlights the odd changes the Provincial Liberals are making in order to improve their leadership process.  In particular it explores how Ed Stelmach supposedly was not the "best" candidate but the one who "came up the middle".  

LINK

American Folk Music Movement's Communist Roots

After re-reading the last post about the life and times of Cicero - I was drawn to another article in the same blog titled "Pete Seeger is a Communist".


It explores the deliberate infiltration by American Communists into the folk music scene - and one to a whole generation in the 50's and 60's.   Woody Guthrie (who I have commented on before) was under investigation for subversive communist connections during the McCarthy Era and was investigated by the FBI.


In an Canadian connection, Seeger was blacklisted on teh major US networks but he managed to get a show on a NY Educational channel and a show on a Canadian station.   Hootnany became popular on college campus's and tunes like "Where have all the flowers gone", "Little Boxes", "This Land is our Land" and "What did you learn at school today?"

Fascinating stuff.

Marcus Tullius CICERO (Jan 3, 106 BC – Dec 7, 43 BC)

A great philosopher (born 2117 years ago) and participant in the politics of the day that led to the triumvirate  of patricians - Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus - to seize power from the Senate.


Philosophers, he said, spin theories about justice, decency, restraint, and fortitude, but statesmen are the ones who must actually set the conditions to foster the virtues that are necessary to a well-functioning polity.

[I recommend that anyone interested in such ancient history watch the HBO series "Rome" from beginning to end. It is very well done and highly entertaining!  But rated: R]

This article provides a succinct summary of his life and ambitions. This article addresses some of the topics that still apply in modern times - among them:


How should I “package” myself for a career?
Many of his friends urged him to change his surname, which they regarded as insufficiently dignified for a rising politician. Apparently, the name derived from an ancestor who had a protuberance like a chickpea (cicer) on the end of his nose.  He declined. But what he did do was change was his speaking style.  He devoted two full years to refining his oratorical techniques and sharpening his intellect.

Politics is a dirty business.
In late Republican Rome, as in present-day America, many of the most capable citizens declined to enter public life. Some did so out of disgust with the state of politics; others wished to take advantage of opportunities to live a private life in comfort and luxury. Epicurean philosophy, with its teaching that a wise man best preserves his freedom by avoiding involvement in public affairs, was much in vogue among members of Rome’s traditional ruling class. Cicero did not - indeed could not disagree.  However he said “What stronger reason could brave and high-minded men have for entering politics than the determination not to give in to the wicked, and not to allow the state to be torn apart by such people?”.




Is the life of a politician compatible with a satisfying private life? 
For Cicero’s the answer was apparently no.  In his letter to Atticus on an occasion when both confidants were away from Rome reminds one of Harry Truman’s famous saying, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”.

Will I lose sight of my highest aims, betray my principles, even lose my soul as I strive to get and keep public office? 
In his essay De Officiis (“On Duties”) he pondered the difficulty of deciding what to do when apparent right clashes with apparent advantage. Some situations, he said, are perplexingly difficult to assess. Sometimes a course of action generally regarded as wrong turns out right. Sometimes a step that looks natural and right may turn out not to be right after all.