CCD applauds Harper government for withdrawal of support for UN ‘anti-racism’ conference

Anti-Semitism, Canada, Israel, Race, South-Africa, UN

Our good friends at the Canadian Coalition for Democracies have posted my father’s “positively prescient, brilliant and stirring piece”—their words—on their website. Dad’s 2001 op-ed warned against Jewish participation in the first, UN “anti-racism” convention of cannibal’s in Durban. But, as the CCD warns, here they go again. Has the US emulated Harper? I hope so. (Unrelated: A few years ago, in Canada, Stephen Harper and I exchanged e-mails about classical liberalism. He’s an amiable intelligent man. Unrelated: Here’s another link to a CCD post out of which I still get a kick.)

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, 23 January, 2008
Ottawa, Canada – The Stephen Harper government has withdrawn its support for a UN anti-racism conference scheduled to take place next year in South Africa, according to a media release today from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity, said today that the conference, like its predecessor in 2001, “has gone completely off the rails… Canada is interested in combating racism, not promoting it. We’ll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and intolerance, not those that actually promote racism and intolerance”.
“Canadians are shocked when they hear the clear and simple expression of reality by their leaders,” said Alastair Gordon, president of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD). “We are used to hearing double-speak from our politicians — fantasies that are at odds with the reality that most Canadians see and the values that they hold.”
The last UN anti-racism conference held in Durban in 2001 degenerated into a hate-fest of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel vitriol, while the most egregious human rights violators escaped criticism. The Toronto Star today reported that “all of the non-governmental organizations invited to the first conference have been invited back to the second, including those that were at the ‘forefront of the hatred’, some of which posted pro-Hitler posters at the 2001 gathering.”
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is in charge of planning for the conference, an entity that has directed 93% of its resolutions on human rights violations at just one nation – Israel. Iran is a member of the organizing committee, despite its government’s open call to wipe the Jewish homeland off the face of the earth.
“The Stephen Harper government has again demonstrated that Canada can project power as a moral leader in international affairs,” added Gordon. “A nation does not need a massive military to provide the moral leadership and clarity that denies legitimacy to Orwellian UN agencies that hijack the language of human rights to promote Jew-hatred.
“Stephen Harper has signaled that Canada will act on principle, regardless of UN consensus. This is the stuff of global leadership.”

RIP, Heath Ledger

Celebrity, Film, Gender, Hollywood, Psychiatry, The Zeitgeist

I don’t know much about this young actor; I’m not sure there is that much to know. To “mature” women like myself, he epitomized the new feminized male, low on testosterone and anemic to look at. (In “The Patriot,” I only had eyes for Mel.) Unmanly and hence unattractive. Young women nowadays, as I’ve observed, seem to like the type.

“Whenever I venture out, I encounter this not-so-new breed of man. Typically, he’ll have a few spoilt, cranky kids in tow, and a papoose strapped to a sunken chest. He’ll be laboring to make the outing to Trader Joe’s a ‘learning experience’ for the brats—one that every other store patron is forced to endure. This generic guy oozes psychological correctness and zero manliness. He’s not necessarily effeminate, mind you. Rather, he’s safely androgynous, and most certainly not guy-like in the traditional sense. As personalities go, he and the wife are indistinguishable.”

Poor Heath had been separated from his live-in lover. Perhaps she dismissed him because he failed to check the percentage of trans fats when out shopping. I’m just speculating.

As sad as the death of any harmless-enough young person is, I’m afraid I was not wowed by his performance in “Brokeback Mountain,” a film I was forced to view—well, let’s just say “circumstances combined to render me a captive audience.” I wrote:

“Heath Ledger as Ennis (an unfortunate name) Del Mar tried to emulate Marlon Brando’s potato-in-the-cheek mumbling in ‘The Godfather.’ A bad idea then—and now. The ‘love scene’ between the two men was akin to a bear fight. And as sensuous (contrast it with the artful and achingly sad scene in ‘Midnight Express’). The only sympathetic and authentic character was Alma Del Mar, the betrayed wife (portrayed by Michelle Williams), and her castaway kids.”

As for prescription drugs, which Heath took to put him to sleep and allay anxiety: A daily glass or two of red wine, and a jog will cure most neuroses. Even if take medication at a time in your life when they’re needed—they often act as a placebo—be sure to wean yourself off these kidney and liver killers. If you can’t sleep, read until you fall asleep. It has worked for me since the age of six, although, admittedly, I am bad sleeper, and go to bed at 2:30am.

RIP, Heath Ledger

Celebrity, Film, Gender, Hollywood, Psychiatry, The Zeitgeist

I don’t know much about this young actor; I’m not sure there is that much to know. To “mature” women like myself, he epitomized the new feminized male; low on testosterone and anemic to look at. (In “The Patriot,” I only had eyes for Mel.) Unmanly and hence unattractive. Young women nowadays, as I’ve observed, seem to like the type:

“Whenever I venture out, I encounter this not-so-new breed of man. Typically, he’ll have a few spoilt, cranky kids in tow, and a papoose strapped to a sunken chest. He’ll be laboring to make the outing to Trader Joe’s a ‘learning experience’ for the brats—one that every other store patron is forced to endure. This generic guy oozes psychological correctness and zero manliness. He’s not necessarily effeminate, mind you. Rather, he’s safely androgynous, and most certainly not guy-like in the traditional sense. As personalities go, he and the wife are indistinguishable.”

Poor Heath had been separated from his live-in lover. Perhaps she dismissed him because he failed to check the percentage of trans fats when out shopping. I’m just speculating.

As sad as the death of any harmless-enough young person is, I’m afraid I was not wowed by his performance in “Brokeback Mountain,” a film I was forced to view—well, let’s just say “circumstances combined to render me a captive audience.” I wrote:
“Heath Ledger as Ennis (an unfortunate name) Del Mar tried to emulate Marlon Brando’s potato-in-the-cheek mumbling in ‘The Godfather.’ A bad idea then—and now. The ‘love scene’ between the two men was akin to a bear fight. And as sensuous (contrast it with the artful and achingly sad scene in ‘Midnight Express’). The only sympathetic and authentic character was Alma Del Mar, the betrayed wife (portrayed by Michelle Williams), and her castaway kids.”

As for prescription drugs, which Ledger took to put him to sleep and allay anxiety: A daily glass or two of red wine, and a jog will cure most neuroses. The first is easy, the last, not so easy. Even if medication is taken at a time in one’s life when it’s needed (it often acts as a placebo), be sure to wean yourself off these kidney and liver killers. If you can’t sleep, read until you fall asleep. This has worked for me since the tender age of six, although, admittedly, I am bad sleeper and go to bed at 2:30 am.

Darkness Descends on South Africa, Literally

Africa, Economy, South-Africa

My father called today to confirm this report by the Mail & Guardian, a leading South African daily:
“South Africa was set on Monday to ration electricity in a bid to stem a spiralling crisis… After mounting anger over daily power cuts that have cost business hundreds of millions of rands, the government said it was drawing up plans that could see consumers fined if they exceed set quotas.
Nelisiwe Makubane, Deputy Director General of the Department of Minerals and Energy, said the regulations being worked on with the state power utility Eskom could be implemented within three months. … Meanwhile, Eskom has requested that business cut its energy usage by 10% to 15%, the energy supplier said on Monday.”
Of special interest is the reference, in the article, to a “skills shortage”:
“’While everybody is well aware there is a generation capacity problem at Eskom, [its] ability to fully utilise what … capacity is available is being severely undermined as a result of staff capacity problems,’ DA public enterprises spokesperson Manie van Dyk said in a statement.”
Even if South Africa imports foreigners to design more power stations, local personnel capable of supporting imported technology are in short supply; over the years, the ANC has mandated the appointment of empty suits filled with affirmative-action appointees.
Did I mention that in all my years in the Old South Africa, we never experienced anything remotely like this? But since majority rule came into effect, the electrical grid has been degraded at every level: generation, transmission, and distribution. Pylons and poles are routinely flattened, stolen, and then smelted. “Up to 100 miles of cables may be going missing every year, destined for markets such as China and India where booming economies have created insatiable demand for copper and aluminum,” reports the Telegraph. “The result has been entire suburbs plunged into darkness, thousands of train passengers stranded, and frequent chaos on the roads as traffic lights fail.”
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