Did You Get THAT, Camera Guy?

Vince Schlomi, better known as the ‘Shamwow’ guy, has been arrested for battering a hooker in a Miami hotel. I am utterly shocked – you’d think he’d have women just hanging off of him…

Use that piece of shit to wipe that smarmy grin off your face, you hooker-smacking bastard.

Of course, it leads me to wonder whether the Shamwow is any good on hooker blood. If so, I think they might be able to find themselves a niche market…

Here’s all the facts, from The Smoking Gun.

U.N.: Unbelievably Naive

The United Nations Human Rights Council, in an act of political correctness and moral weakness run amok, has passed a resolution decrying the “defamation of religion”, which could be used to effectively criminalize criticism of religion. A few choice excerpts (emphasis in text from UN Watch):

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming the pledge made by all States, under the Charter of the United Nations, to promote and encourage universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,

Reaffirming also that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,

Recognizing the valuable contribution of all religions to modern civilization and the contribution that dialogue among civilizations can make towards improved awareness and understanding of the common values shared by all humankind,

Noting with deep concern the instances of intolerance, discrimination and acts of violence against followers of certain faiths, occurring in many parts of the world, in addition to the negative projection of certain religions in the media and the introduction and enforcement of laws and administrative measures that specifically discriminate against and target persons with certain ethnic and religious backgrounds, particularly Muslim minorities following the events of 11 September 2001, and that threaten to impede their full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Stressing that defamation of religions is a serious affront to human dignity leading to restriction on the freedom of religion of their adherents and incitement to religious hatred and violence,

Noting with concern that defamation of religions, and incitement to religious hatred in general, could lead to social disharmony and violations of human rights, and alarmed at the inaction of some States to combat this burgeoning trend and the resulting discriminatory practices against adherents of certain religions and in this context stressing the need to effectively combat defamation of all religions and incitement to religious hatred in general and against Islam and Muslims in particular,

Expresses deep concern at the continued serious instances of deliberate stereotyping of religions, their adherents and sacred persons in the media, as well as programmes and agendas pursued by extremist organizations and groups aimed at creating and perpetuating stereotypes about certain religions, in particular when condoned by Governments;

Recognizes that, in the context of the fight against terrorism, defamation of religions, and incitement to religious hatred in general have, become aggravating factors that contribute to the denial of fundamental rights and freedoms of members of target groups, as well as to their economic and social exclusion;

Expresses deep concern in this respect that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism and in this regard regrets the laws or administrative measures specifically designed to control and monitor Muslim minorities, thereby stigmatizing them and legitimizing the discrimination they experience;

Deplores the use of the print, audio-visual and electronic media, including the Internet, and any other means to incite acts of violence, xenophobia or related intolerance and discrimination towards any religion, as well as targeting of religious symbols and venerated persons;

Well, you get the idea by now. Given that, in particular, a ‘negative depiction’ of a religion is entirely subjective, the UN has officially declared religion as immune from criticism – although the text refers specifically to muslims, the principles are effectively broad enough to include all religions: scientology, satanism, you name it. While I am against violence, and even stereotyping, giving blanket protection to a particular class of people, insulating them from criticism under an undefined concept of ‘defamation’ is dangerous.I need not tell regular readers just how dangerous. The fact that islamic countries regularly violate the basic rights of life and liberty to women is, apparently, no longer a topic of discussion, because such barbaric practices, including genital mutilation and outright murder of rape victims, is done in a religious context.

Worse, the UN has now, in writing, acknowledged the existence of ‘sacred persons’, which again creates another class of untouchable individuals who are free to do as they choose without fear of criticism.

If I may, I’d like to point out something to the UN:

Article 18.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

See those? Those are Articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In effect, the UN has seen fit to violate the most important precepts of humanity in fear of offending religious fanatics. The creeping doom of Western civilization continues – the international body charged with ensuring the protection of human rights has sacrificed the rights of millions who have every right to disagree with their family members’ disappearances, coerced marriages, honor killings, the molestation of children and the forced pregnancies and passage of preventable disease to satisfy some outmoded, prudish notion of morality. Not to mention taking away the right to dissent, to cry out for justice in the name of all the people who suffer injustices done in the name of some invisible man in the sky.

To throw up an unassailable wall around the collection of superstitions that constitutes religion is to create an elite class of holy men who will suffer no complaint, and who will brook no opposition. We are, all of us, even those of religious faith, endangered by myths run amok, subject to the whims of a religious minority who are untouchable and, thanks to the UN, unstoppable.

We used to be encouraged to join hands in brotherhood – now we are not allowed to let go as the first fanatic leaps off the cliff the UN has made. Needless to say, I am less than proud of an organization that is prepared to boldly lead us into the 12th century.

I Suppose Apathy is a Reaction, Too…

The G&M reports that Canadians are by and large indifferent to the Atheist bus ads:

The poll found 32 per cent of respondents opposed the ads, 20 per cent supported them and 43 per cent didn’t care one way or the other.

Support for the ads was strongest among respondents in British Columbia and Ontario, with the highest opposition in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Support also varied by age and income, with younger respondents and those making more than $60,000 a year more likely to favour running the ads.

As usual, the comments section has become a rich vein of idiocy and name-calling. Another argument for I.Q. tests being required before you can purchase one of them computing boxes.

In any case, I think the VP of Harris-Decima has it right: we are generally a more secular society, but that doesn’t mean we can relax and let religious groups place conditions on freedom of speech.  As one rare intelligent commenter wrote in response to some religious reactionary post (paraphrasing, of course), “You have the right to your belief, but that does not insulate you from being criticized on the basis of that belief”.

At least the younger generation is waking up from the long wishful dream of imaginary men in the sky – or at least are more willing to debate about it. If that’s not a hopeful message, I don’t know what is.

Justice?

What exactly does a person have to do to murder someone these days? Apparently more than stabbing someone to death while on probation for attempted murder for trying to stab someone else to death a few years before. I anxiously await the light sentancing agreement – ten years for manslaughter (maybe), double time for time served (three years now, isn’t it), and since they’ll still give him parole ‘cuz the justice system is like that, I expect he’ll be out in a year.

Coming soon to a Halifax street near you – Cory Wright, Manslaughterer.

The earth is puking – God must think you’re full of somethin’ stinky…

Because of the short-sighted bloviations we’ve become accustomed to from the Right, the office of a Louisianna governor has been forced to  respond to an Alaskan earthquake. Who knew? The emphasis is mine:

“Governor Jindal referenced the money spent on volcano monitoring to highlight the fact that a bill that was supposed to be about creating jobs ended up being a package that seemed to spend just for the sake of spending, ” Plotkin said in an e-mail response to questions.

Ummm, no, that is not actually what you said. Here’s what the governor said, in his own words:

While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a magnetic levitation line from Las Vegas to Disneyland, and $140 million for something called volcano monitoring.

Eat those words, gov, eat ‘em. Tasty, aren’t they?

Open up, deregulation is good for you!

A few quotes form this article tells a story that resulted in the deaths of 20 people last year:

In a move toward deregulation of the industry in 2005, the CFIA handed companies the responsibility for testing their own products.

That’s an ominous start, don’t you think?

A second internal memo obtained by the CBC and Toronto Star acknowledges that inspectors haven’t been doing any of their own tests for three years, which could explain the delay while training is conducted.

Really? Well, best we get right on that then.

As a result, the agency is in the process of training inspectors, he says. That is expected to be completed by April 1, but in the meantime, companies will continue conducting their own tests and submitting positive results to the agency.

“Continue” like they did last year, after people started to die? Great. Just to clarify, your SPAM might not only taste like ass for the next little while, but may in fact contain it. Forewarned is forearmed.

Oh, Conservative Party of Canada, is there anything you can’t fuck up? I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Spider-Man to the Rescue!

Just found a link to this story: a Thai fireman, who keeps Spider-Man and Ultraman costumes at his fire station to “liven up fire drills”, saved a frightened eight-year-old autistic boy from falling from a third floor balcony.

And sometimes, he dresses up like a Thai fireman…

What else can you say but “bravo!” to this quick-thinking fireman.  All in all, a positive news story to bring a smile during these trying times.

One person’s treason…

Sadly, one day the Republicans will be back in the Whitehouse. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe and frankly I don’t like thinking about it any more than you do, but it’s true. That day will come, and sometime thereafter, the Democrats might disagree with them, might want to change a bill, might want something not to pass, might even… want them to fail. When that happens, prepare yourselves for the whimpering and whining about “treason” from bloated turds like Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, but remember well the sage words of Bobby Jindal (who will, thankfully never be president of anything):

“Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, ‘Why no sir, I don’t want the president to fail,’ is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism,” Jindal said at a political fundraiser attended by 1,200 people. “This is political correctness run amok.”

When the time comes that the Republicans open a can of “shut the fuck up, that’s treason” on any dissenters, and when they start mouthing off about “not wanting America to succeed” in the face of a filibuster tell them that you are just following the great advice of a now-past one-time Republican hopeful. And a fat blabbermouth oxycontin-chewing asshole.

PetroCan/Suncor or “Where have I heard this before?”

From today’s Glove and Pail:

…if you don’t have some very strong companies that can actually compete in our own backyard, what you’re going to end up with is a lot of foreign companies in here…

It sounds tantalizingly, no, exactly like the argument the banks made in an unsuccessful to get the Chretien/Martin government to allow bank mergers a few years back. How much better things would be now, don’t you think, had those banks been allowed to merge? Maybe we wouldn’t be saddled with phrases like “world’s soundest“.  Come on, chin up, stability is for those without balls!

What’s In A Name?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been holding a contest to name the international space station.

Second place: Serenity.

First place, with 230,539 votes, over 40,000 more than the second place entry:

Colbert.

Congratulations, it’s a space station.

This just made my day.