http://tinyurl.com/3wzfn9
- - - 'Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value." -Canadian "Human Rights" Investigator Dean Steacy, responding to the question "What value do you give freedom of speech when you investigate?" ... At issue is a cover story National Review's own Mark Steyn wrote for the Canadian newsweekly Maclean's, titled "The Future Belongs to Islam." An excerpt from Steyn's bestselling book America Alone, the article highlighted the fact that demographic trends suggest that Muslims may well become a majority in much of Europe and that this obviously represents a threat to Europe as we know it. A few Muslim law students objected to the article and filed multiple complaints with Canada's national and provincial "human rights" tribunals and presto! Steyn's opinion and Maclean's right to print it have now been effectively criminalized. The fact that a few fringe Muslims have reacted to Steyn's article by invoking a once-obscure Canadian bureaucratic process to hold hostage the rights of all Canadians only goes to prove that Steyn needs to be heard, more than ever. So with all due respect to our friendly neighbors to the north, what the hell is wrong with Canada and how did this happen? ... What this means is that everyone in Canada now has fundamental freedoms, provided they're not in conflict with whatever specious definition of "human rights" the CHRC chooses to apply. The threshold for conviction set by the Human Rights Act is incredibly low, because its highly subjective language means that "likely to cause contempt" is as good as a preponderance of evidence establishing guilt. There's also the matter of the commission's tribunals, which - unlike legal proceedings - are largely administrative in nature, so there's little in the way of formal rules of evidence or procedure. There are few things in life more terrifying than being dragged into court knowing ahead of time that truth isn't necessarily a defense and that the judge is winging it. ... Recent "human rights" cases include: -Earlier this year, former CHRC employee Richard Warman went trolling for an open wi-fi connection in Ottawa so that he could post racist comments under assumed names on an allegedly racist website and then lodge a complaint with the CHRC charging the site owner with, well, being racist. Warman had appeared before the CHRC 12 times before, and wouldn't you know it, the CHRC ruled in his favor 12 times. Talk about a racket. Except this time there was collateral damage: The name and address of the innocent sucker with the open wi-fi connection was read aloud during the court proceedings and made its way into the newspapers as being the origin of the racist comments. He was not amused. -In 1999, a Christian printer was fined $5,000 for refusing to print a series of pro-pedophilia essays. He spent $40,000 in legal fees trying to defend himself. -In 2005, the Knights of Columbus of Port Coquitlam, B.C., were fined for refusing to rent their hall for a lesbian wedding. -There's simply no point in naming all of the clergy that have been brought up on charges for preaching against homosexuality. Suffice to say it's more than a few. -In 2002, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission ordered the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Hugh Owens each to pay $1,500 to three complainants for running an ad that quoted Bible verses condemning homosexuality. The decision was overturned by an appeal court . . . four years later. -In January of this year, Ezra Levant, publisher of Canadian conservative magazine The Western Standard, was brought up on charges for publishing the infamous Danish Muhammad cartoons as a matter of informing his readers what all the fuss was about. Since then another unrelated complaint has been lodged against him - and, as near as I can tell, the entire conservative Canadian blogosphere - by none other than serial crank Richard Warman. - - - Wow, this is astounding: One of my favorite editorialists Mark Steyn is under investigation by a Human Rights Tribunal in Canada over a column he wrote that was supposedly offensive to Muslims! I don't think we in the West comprehend just how dangerous, far-along and close-to-home our current lurch toward totalitarianism really is. Apparently we need to experience the full horrors of the last century on our own continent before we get it. If you don't see this as a serious step in that direction, you're blind and a fool. Ever hear of the "Fairness Doctrine"? -- which the next Congress under either B. Hussein Obama or McCain of McCain-Feingold fame is bound to resurrect to go after conservatives in our country. I used to think David Horowitz was exaggerating in his book "Unholy Alliance" about collusion between the radical Left and Islamic terrorist organizations. But this kind of stuff, and the ruthless efficiency of the Left's ascendency here over the last 3 years, particularly in the form of the Obama "phenomenon" (and attendant mainstream cover up of his radical roots) lend some legitimacy to his "ex-insider" view of the tools, techniques and methods of these frightening political forces. And this by the way is what depresses me about McCain being our ostensibly 'Republican' nominee: He simply does not get it on any level, nor does he understand his "useful idiot's" role in facilitating what is going on. - Bob _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
