"Paperback Writer" is a song written by the Beatles back in 1966. I was, um, younger then, and I remember listening to it and other Beatles songs throughout my life. But I never made the big jump to CDs. I always wanted to replace all my cassettes with CD but it was expensive and music became less of a focus for me. In the back of my mind, I have always wanted to start my collection, especially the classics, like the Beatles.
Well, over the week-end while shopping at Target, I remembered my goal and started looking for Beatles music, which have been rather scarce the last few years. And there it was. A CD composed of various singles that made it to number 1 and "Paperback Writer" was among them.
Today, for the first time ever, I figured out the first four words of "Paperback Writer." I've known for some time that the back vocals in the second verse were from the French children's song "Frère Jacques", but it wasn't till today, that I figured out the first four words.
I'm not sure rather that's funny or sad or some combination of the two and then some. But what a dork.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Freedom of Speech threatened in Europe
The Death Knell of Freedom of Expression in Austria
H/T Europe News
The International Civil Liberties Alliance 3 February 2010
This measure will consolidate the already unpopular doctrine of political correctness and at the same time it will undermine traditional Western freedoms. Inevitably this kind of law will spread like a pathogen to the rest of the EU. The powers that be are in the process of creating a political environment where it will be illegal to question or criticize the policies and beliefs of the rulers.
Gates of Vienna has published an article entitled ‘Constricting the Nucleus of Freedom’ which provides more information on this development in Austria.
The following essay by AMT also shows how Austria is sinking into the tyrannical abyss:
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” — Voltaire
As many of us are aware — some more than others — freedom of speech has been changing. Those of us who believe in and fight to protect the concept of democracy can clearly recognize the gradual erosion of this noble and important freedom. There is growing concern that freedom of speech and its provisions in the law are being used more and more to do stifle opinions, and — even more worrying — truth. (More)
Kulturkampf- Quebec government declares "war" against homophobia
I'm sure its just a matter of time before such wrong headed thought crosses our border. already the agenda is taught in the schools and preached on TV and other media outlets. Outlawing "homophobia"( i.e those who disagree with the LGBT agenda ) and "heterosexism".
...The document focuses on combating “homophobia,” but Farrow says that “we cannot get the measure of this document” without a grasp of what he says the government sees as homophobia's 'twin evil': “heterosexism.” “Heterosexism,” according to the policy, is “affirmation of heterosexuality as a social norm or the highest form of sexual orientation.”
...Farrow concludes by urging his fellow citizens to stand up against the government's attack. “War has been declared, and war there will be,” he states. “Let those who intend to fight, fight now. Let them fight with the weapons of St Benedict, yes, but with the weapons of Martin Luther King, Jr, too. Let them meet and consult, and determine to act publicly and in concert, laying aside their customary deference, which has no place in a time of war.” (more from Lifesite)
In the preface to his statement, with notes, Professor Farrow states:
Before I begin, let it be noted that nothing I have to say here is directed at or against people of homosexual inclination, among whom I too have friends and colleagues, some of whom would agree with the main thrust of my argument even while disagreeing strenuously on points of substance or of detail, whether in morals or politics or in social phenomena....
.....they do not wish to find themselves in a society where it is not possible to enquire openly about the causes and consequences of sexual behaviour, or to make moral claims about sexual behaviour that do not suit the people in power. And they can see that this is where we are headed; that the new moralists (as I have elsewhere referred to them) are in some ways much more rigid and prone to persecute than the old. They may not like it, for example, if an institution or an individual refers to their condition as “disordered” or their behaviour as immoral, but they would defend the right to hold such a view, to live by it, and even to argue for a polity that takes it into account.
That right is just what is threatened by the Québec policy against homophobia.
Download complete article, including notes.
- Douglas Farrow is Professor of Christian Thought at McGill University.
...The document focuses on combating “homophobia,” but Farrow says that “we cannot get the measure of this document” without a grasp of what he says the government sees as homophobia's 'twin evil': “heterosexism.” “Heterosexism,” according to the policy, is “affirmation of heterosexuality as a social norm or the highest form of sexual orientation.”
Farrow points out the fact that, in rejecting “heterosexism,” “the Government of Quebec has rejected heterosexuality as a social norm!” and he says that it is there where “the full scope of this absurd war begin[s] to appear.” He relates the obvious fact that Quebec society, as all others, was built on ancestors “who all took heterosexuality as the social norm.”...
...Farrow concludes by urging his fellow citizens to stand up against the government's attack. “War has been declared, and war there will be,” he states. “Let those who intend to fight, fight now. Let them fight with the weapons of St Benedict, yes, but with the weapons of Martin Luther King, Jr, too. Let them meet and consult, and determine to act publicly and in concert, laying aside their customary deference, which has no place in a time of war.” (more from Lifesite)
In the preface to his statement, with notes, Professor Farrow states:
Before I begin, let it be noted that nothing I have to say here is directed at or against people of homosexual inclination, among whom I too have friends and colleagues, some of whom would agree with the main thrust of my argument even while disagreeing strenuously on points of substance or of detail, whether in morals or politics or in social phenomena....
.....they do not wish to find themselves in a society where it is not possible to enquire openly about the causes and consequences of sexual behaviour, or to make moral claims about sexual behaviour that do not suit the people in power. And they can see that this is where we are headed; that the new moralists (as I have elsewhere referred to them) are in some ways much more rigid and prone to persecute than the old. They may not like it, for example, if an institution or an individual refers to their condition as “disordered” or their behaviour as immoral, but they would defend the right to hold such a view, to live by it, and even to argue for a polity that takes it into account.
That right is just what is threatened by the Québec policy against homophobia.
Download complete article, including notes.
- Douglas Farrow is Professor of Christian Thought at McGill University.
White House Bullies Reuters Into Pulling Story
The Gates of Vienna has done an admirable job of piecing together the tangled web of what appears to me, to be strong arm Administration tactics at silencing an unflattering story. Well worth the read. I'd encourage to take the time to visit.
As stories go, this one is not all that important. The only reason I’m telling you is because it seems to be emblematic of much larger issues with this President and his administration. So, yes, it’s a venal little tale, but this has become a venal little presidency and that in itself is disturbing:
When you go here, you get this [I have bolded the time because what you see quoted here is appearing four hours after the original, which is further down the page]:
Advisory: Backdoor taxes to hit middle class (more)
As stories go, this one is not all that important. The only reason I’m telling you is because it seems to be emblematic of much larger issues with this President and his administration. So, yes, it’s a venal little tale, but this has become a venal little presidency and that in itself is disturbing:
When you go here, you get this [I have bolded the time because what you see quoted here is appearing four hours after the original, which is further down the page]:
Advisory: Backdoor taxes to hit middle class (more)
The Next Attack
No doubt you have seen this but just in case…
NY Times
...he emphasized the considerable progress in the campaign to debilitate Al Qaeda and said that the global economic meltdown, rather than the prospect of a major terrorist attack, was the “primary near-term security concern of the United States.”...
...But Mr. Blair began his annual threat testimony before Congress by saying that the threat of a crippling attack on telecommunications and other computer networks was growing, as an increasingly sophisticated group of enemies had “severely threatened” the sometimes fragile systems undergirding the country’s information infrastructure.
“Malicious cyberactivity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication,” he told the committee.
His emphasis on the threat points up the growing concerns among American intelligence officials about the potentially devastating results of a coordinated attack on the nation’s technology apparatus, sometimes called a “cyber-Pearl Harbor.”
He said that the surge in cyberattacks, including the penetration of Google’s servers from inside China, was a “wake-up call” for those who dismissed the threat of computer warfare. “Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private-sector networks, undermining confidence in our information systems, and in the very information these systems were intended to convey,” Mr. Blair said. (more)
NY Times
...he emphasized the considerable progress in the campaign to debilitate Al Qaeda and said that the global economic meltdown, rather than the prospect of a major terrorist attack, was the “primary near-term security concern of the United States.”...
...But Mr. Blair began his annual threat testimony before Congress by saying that the threat of a crippling attack on telecommunications and other computer networks was growing, as an increasingly sophisticated group of enemies had “severely threatened” the sometimes fragile systems undergirding the country’s information infrastructure.
“Malicious cyberactivity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication,” he told the committee.
His emphasis on the threat points up the growing concerns among American intelligence officials about the potentially devastating results of a coordinated attack on the nation’s technology apparatus, sometimes called a “cyber-Pearl Harbor.”
He said that the surge in cyberattacks, including the penetration of Google’s servers from inside China, was a “wake-up call” for those who dismissed the threat of computer warfare. “Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private-sector networks, undermining confidence in our information systems, and in the very information these systems were intended to convey,” Mr. Blair said. (more)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Here's A Story You Won't See On This Side of the Pond
Global warming science implodes overseas: American media silent
Remember when our press was the best in the world? Vanguards of the truth? If there was any lingering doubt in your mind about how far journalism has fallen in this country then this matter should finally put it to rest:( From American Thinker)
The revelations have been nothing short of jaw dropping. Dozens - yes dozens - of claims made in the IPCC 2007 report on climate change that was supposed to represent the "consensus" of 2500 of the world's climate scientists have been shown to be bogus, or faulty, or not properly vetted, or simply pulled out of thin air.
We know this because newspapers in Great Britain are doing their job; vetting the 2007 report item by item, coming up with shocking news about global warming claims that formed the basis of argument by climate change advocates who were pressuring the US and western industrialized democracies to transfer trillions of dollars in wealth to the third world and cede sovereignty to the UN.
Glaciergate, tempgate, icegate, and now, disappearing Amazon forests not the result of warming, but of logging. And the report the IPCC based their bogus "science" on was written by a food safety advocate according to this Christopher Booker piece in the Telegraph :
We know this because newspapers in Great Britain are doing their job; vetting the 2007 report item by item, coming up with shocking news about global warming claims that formed the basis of argument by climate change advocates who were pressuring the US and western industrialized democracies to transfer trillions of dollars in wealth to the third world and cede sovereignty to the UN.
Glaciergate, tempgate, icegate, and now, disappearing Amazon forests not the result of warming, but of logging. And the report the IPCC based their bogus "science" on was written by a food safety advocate according to this Christopher Booker piece in the Telegraph :
Dr North next uncovered "Amazongate". The IPCC made a prominent claim in its 2007 report, again citing the WWF as its authority, that climate change could endanger "up to 40 per cent" of the Amazon rainforest - as iconic to warmists as those Himalayan glaciers and polar bears. This WWF report, it turned out, was co-authored by Andy Rowell, an anti-smoking and food safety campaigner who has worked for WWF and Greenpeace, and contributed pieces to Britain's two most committed environmentalist newspapers. Rowell and his co-author claimed their findings were based on an article in Nature. But the focus of that piece, it emerges, was not global warming at all but the effects of logging.A Canadian analyst has identified more than 20 passages in the IPCC's report which cite similarly non-peer-reviewed WWF or Greenpeace reports as their authority, and other researchers have been uncovering a host of similarly dubious claims and attributions all through the report. These range from groundless allegations about the increased frequency of "extreme weather events" such as hurricanes, droughts and heatwaves, to a headline claim that global warming would put billions of people at the mercy of water shortages - when the study cited as its authority indicated exactly the opposite, that rising temperatures could increase the supply of water. (more)
The Most Important Story You Didn't See Last Week (and Probably Won't Ever See)
A Senate hearing last week confirmed the public's worst concern about Barack Obama: that when it comes to national security, Obama hasn't just been asleep at the switch -- he hasn't even bothered to find the switch.
"I do not think he [Obama] has a firm grasp yet on the intelligence community," 9/11 Commission Vice-Chairman and former Democrat congressman Lee Hamilton told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
This, even though Obama has been in office for over a year now.
"We were not paying close attention in this area," commission Chairman Thomas Kean testified at the hearing into intelligence lapses prior to the Christmas Day attempted airliner bombing. Kean noted that Obama has instead been focused on such issues as health care and cap-and-trade.
The two men have historically been circumspect about making politically charged statements, but they painted a portrait of an intelligence community, America's first line of defense against its jihadi enemies, that is devolving into disarray under Obama's leadership -- or lack thereof. (more)
Gathering Storm Clouds?
There are some interesting things going on today. See if you can connect the dots:
Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.
'Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11'
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the "global arrogance" on this year's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution
Fears that US missiles move may be exploited by Iran's hardlinersDeployment may strengthen repressive regime in
Secret CIA-Mossad meeting, preparation for new war?
A secret meeting between the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta and Israeli officials has reportedly centered on Iran's nuclear program.
Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.
'Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11'
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the "global arrogance" on this year's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution
Fears that US missiles move may be exploited by Iran's hardlinersDeployment may strengthen repressive regime in
Secret CIA-Mossad meeting, preparation for new war?
A secret meeting between the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta and Israeli officials has reportedly centered on Iran's nuclear program.
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