Sunday - March 23, 2014
Danny Vermin At The Restaurant
Add to the list of things you do only once* ...
My wife sent the Thai food back to the kitchen because it wasn’t hot enough.
We were down at Pru Thai here in Clinton. We both ordered the Duck chu-chee, which is superb. Hers was 1 Trumpeting Elephants hot, mine was 2, out of 3 Trumpeting Elephants, and that’s a 3 designed for white folks. Real Thai hot is about a 4 or a 5.
Waiter brings the food; “Here’s you duck chu-chee, 1 regular, 1 slightly spicy.”
“Um, no, we ordered mine slightly spicy, and his medium spicy.”
“Ooh. Oh, so sorry, be right back.” And away he goes, and he’s back in 5 seconds with her dish, aka my dish. “Duck chu-chee, slightly spicy!” Mine plate took another 5 minutes in the kitchen ...
... and came back pretty much pepper crusted. On a scale of 1 to 3 Trumpeting Elephants, mine was the entire Ringling Brothers Circus.
So I did the only thing I could do ... ate the whole thing with a smile. I probably turned bright red, and I could feel the individual tablespoons of sweat gathering up to leap forcibly from my head. The woman seated behind me kept asking her date if it was raining indoors. So a pint or two later, 3 sodden cloth napkins surreptitiously hidden under my plate, water glasses drained multiple times ... waiter comes over again; “Do you want a desert?”
“Well, maybe. What do you have with some spice in it?
“Oh no, sorry, all our desert are sweet. Ice cream, fry banana, Sticky Rice, like that.”
“Ah, then we’ll pass. Thanks.”
Posted by Drew458
on 03/23/2014 at 07:52 PM
Filed Under: • Fine-Dining • Fun-Stuff •
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Permalink • stay away
Guinea, West Africa -
Guinea has received confirmation that a mysterious disease that has killed up to 59 people in the West African country, and may have spread to neighbouring Sierra Leone, is the haemorrhagic fever Ebola, the government said on Saturday.
Cases of the disease - among the most virulent pathogens known to infect humans, with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent - have been registered in three southeastern towns and in the capital Conakry since February 9. It has never before been recorded in Guinea.
“It is indeed Ebola fever. A laboratory in Lyon (France) confirmed the information,” Damantang Albert Camara told Reuters.
Six of the 12 samples sent for analysis tested positive for Ebola, Dr. Sakoba Keita, who heads the epidemics prevention division at Guinea’s health ministry, told Reuters.
...
World Health Organisation (WHO) officials said that cases showing similar symptoms, including fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding, had also been reported in an area of Sierra Leone near the border with Guinea.
Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with infected animals including chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines, according to the WHO.
The disease, which is transmitted between humans through contact with organs, blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids, is most commonly found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and Gabon.
Stay away. Far away. And stop exchanging bodily fluids with those damned dirty apes! Eww.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/23/2014 at 04:50 PM
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Permalink • Friday - March 21, 2014
hey you parents out there
Riding what they see as a wave of anti-testing sentiment among parents, opponents of high-stakes assessments believe a strategy known as opt-out—having parents refuse to let their children take state-mandated tests—could force policymakers to take note of their cause.
Once considered a rarity, the opt-out push has prompted high-profile boycott efforts and meetings in large districts such as Chicago and led more parents nationwide to join forces with anti-testing advocates in arguing that the assessments are unnecessary, excessive, and, in some cases, even harmful to students.
Such efforts come at a time when states across the country are preparing to field-test assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards, and when controversy over the common core in many statehouses has reignited the debate over testing overload.
Link to a 2 hour long video all about Common Core . And state assessments. And why both suck.
But “opting out”? I don’t get it. Back in the Pleistocene when I was a kid in grade school, we got these tests every year or so. Sometimes several per year. You were never told how you did on them, and they didn’t always line up directly with what you were being taught in class at that time. I seem to recall it was math, reading and spelling. Maybe there was some geography and history in there? Maybe there were some of those “fold up this shape into a cube and tell us what it looks like” spatial relations things. I really don’t recall.
Sure, it was a test ... but one that was like a free ride. No grades! Just use your #2 pencil and have fun all morning ... all day ... I think once the tests lasted for the better part of a week? My point is, they were without consequence. None. Ever. No phone calls, no awards, no special classes ... um, wait, IIRC the school snuck an IQ test in on us a couple times, and after that my parents had to battle the school system which wanted to move me ahead 3 years. Just what my slower than average social skills development needed, right? So, no thanks.
So if it’s a meaningless test, with no impact on your kid at all, then what’s the point? What’s the problem? Why bother to “opt out” your kid?
Posted by Drew458
on 03/21/2014 at 01:50 PM
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Permalink • doctor and another man charged with female genital mutilation.
I know this is not America, but still, the rules should still apply. A person in another part of the world wants a better life, and seeks out a new home. The contract should be that in exchange for allowing others to join in and become a citizen, that that person adopt his new home and abide by its rules, its culture, its laws, and its norms. They accept the history of his or her new home, and pitch in to become one with that new home, and contribute to make that new home a better place, so it will continue to prosper. (Very much as outlined by Teddy Roosevelt’s speech)
But instead, the newcomer gets ALL of the benefits he or she sought out, but wants to give NOTHING in return. They do not want to participate in the way that is acceptable by that host’s standards. They want all the rules changed to suit them, they want the culture that offends them halted, and they want any history that offends them wiped away. These new people want all the benefits, but want to give nothing in return. As if somehow, their mere presence in the new country is all they owe. BS!!!. I say, no country no longer allow ANYONE to benefit or come to their country unless that person agrees to abide by certain standards and rules, and become a full participating member and ultimately, a citizen if possible. Otherwise, what the hell is in it for the host country, beside of course, expense, and hassle? And make that person agree to do these things, and if they fail, they go back. No court rulings...nothing. It’s all in the contract. Like a full payment due on demand clause if a person fails to pay their mortgage. That person is scooped up, and shipped back to whatever dunghill they came from. If they liked the rules there so much, instead of trying to change their new home, they should simply stay put.
Do this a few times, and I bet the caliber of immigrant and those seeking benefits from other countries will improve greatly.
We need to nip this crap in the bud now, or will be destroyed by this nonsense.Posted by sdkar 03/19/2014 at 01:38 PM
Above was posted in comments here at bmews. At the time I read it, I had just seen the story I am posting below and thought, how fitting.
In another post, Sdkar made ref. to America, which could easily apply to the UK if anyone was serious about saving this country. All of what he wrote makes sense to many of us, but the many of us are not the ones making the decisions and enforcing political correctness.
In the case here, there have been arrests. Will the vermin who did this be deported? Not if he has wife and family here because you see, one of his many human rights, is the right to a family life. Is that English law? Don’t think so but not sure. I am sure however, that it is a ruling handed down by the ECOHR, which is, The European Court of Human Rights. I don’t believe the men involved in this story are at all human. But hey ... that’s me.
The kind of life forms that believe in this sort of thing, truly believe they are doing good, and just would never be able to understand anyone who believed otherwise. They live in another time and place and yet .... it’s the west that MUST be ‘understanding’ and compassionate. We are not allowed to voice disgust out loud to these people, except in polite and civil ways and then it’s in the press. But if you come face to face with one of these dark age brainless twits and tell em what you think, you’re islamophobic and a racist and a number of other things that aren’t compliments. And ... you could also end up in court if you should “hurt their feelings”.
Doctor at NHS hospital and another man become first ever to be charged with carrying out female genital mutilation· Dr Dhanoun Dharmasena works at Whittington Hospital in north London
· It is alleged he carried out the procedure helped by Hasan Mohamed
· The charges are first ever brought under the Female Genital Mutilation Act
· Prosecutors have dropped four other cases due to insufficient evidence
· FGM criminalised in 1985 and is thought to have happened to 66,000 in UK
By Dan Bloom
The first charges in British history over female genital mutilation have been brought against two men - one of whom is a doctor.
Dr Dhanoun Dharmasena from the Whittington Hospital in north London, and Hasan Mohamed, who is not a medic, will face charges under the Female Genital Mutilation Act.
It is claimed the doctor carried out the procedure on a woman who had given birth in November 2012, and that Mohamed encouraged and helped him, prosecutors said.Today prosecutors said they had also looked at four other cases - one of which was new and three that were reconsidered after decisions to take no further action - and found there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
One of the old cases involved a man calling an FGM helpline, intended for victims, to ask for the procedure to be carried out on his two daughters.
The new case involved two parents accused of taking their daughter abroad to have FGM.
The CPS would not give details of the other two cases.
The pair who have been charged will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on April 15.
Those found guilty under the Act can face a maximum of 14 years in jail.
It is notoriously difficult to bring charges under FGM laws because victims are afraid to give evidence.
‘It is a very difficult injury to talk about,’ she said. ‘It is an abuse of their body and it is not a part of the body that people want to talk about in public.’
CUTTING’ IS A CULTURAL TRADITIONThe tradition originated in ethnic groups spread throughout 28 African countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, and spread across the world as groups emigrated.
The circumcision or ‘cutting’ is carried out for cultural reasons, often because it shows a girl’s virginity on her wedding night.
FGM is defined as any partial or full removal of a woman’s outer sexual organs. It can also involve sewing up the vagina.
In cultures where the tradition is common, ‘uncut’ girls can be thought more likely to be promiscuous, unhygienic, and prone to diseases such as HIV/Aids.
The procedure is traditionally carried out by an older woman with no medical training and without any anaesthetic or antiseptics, risking infection.
Their basic tools include knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades. Iodine or a mixture of herbs is placed on the wound to tighten the vagina and stop the bleeding.
Prosecutors in today’s case have not specified what type of procedure is alleged to have been carried out.
It is thought as many as 66,000 women in the UK have suffered FGM with 24,000 girls under 11 also at risk.
Source: MailOnline / Forward UK
Posted by peiper
on 03/21/2014 at 09:30 AM
Filed Under: • Crime • muslims • REALLY WORTHLESS and PUTRID PEOPLE • Stoopid-People •
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Permalink • Thursday - March 20, 2014
Custom Plates
Boris bought a truck ...
Posted by Drew458
on 03/20/2014 at 11:16 PM
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Permalink • Flight MH370
No, nothing new. No real news; the latest is a goose chase in the far south Indian Ocean, somewhere around Amsterdam Island. The Big Empty. Another 50 - 80 foot bit of flotsam (or is is jetsam? I’m always confused by those two*. Flora and fauna I’ve got figured out) has searchers moving C-130s to far western Australia to make the 5 hour flight to check out some thing in the water.
But I just had a thought.
Various news stories are going on about how Malaysia “didn’t really cooperate” for more than a week, how their “PM withheld data”, how it seems their investigators were slow off the mark to search the pilot’s and co-pilot’s homes.
Well ... in this new, modern, Obama-ish age of American “non-exceptionalism”, why should they? This was a Malaysian plane on a Malaysian flight on a Malaysian airline, from Malaysia to China. So what’s the United States FBI got to do with it, or our FAA, or any of our alphabet government agencies? Who made us Boss Of The World? It’s not like they borrowed the plane from Boeing. They bought it.
Sure, sure, I know we WERE Team America, World Police. Fuck yeah. And that’s what we’ve been for at least 70 years now. But Teh Won is fundamentally changing all of that. We’re now no more important than Finland, or Mozambique. Just ask Putin, right?
And every time I’ve read the Navy News over the past couple years, I’ve seen articles on how the Chinese want to push our gray ships out of the South China Sea, and how the Indonesians aren’t too happy about Uncle Sugar doing any Force Projection over there either. So that corner of the world doesn’t seem to be our bailiwick anymore. Now add in all those defense cut-backs the Dems always make to “balance” the budget by giving the military the shaft ... I’m almost amazed we’re involved in this search / investigation at all. Were we invited? By whom? Are they picking up the tab? I’m pretty sure I heard there were two or three Americans on board, but that just goes to show. There are two or three Americans on board just about anything.
* Drew’skool, for those that care:
Flotsam is floating wreckage from a ship or of a ship. Jetsam is floating stuff that has fallen off a ship, or been tossed overboard. Jetsam was jettisoned.
Flora is plants. Flora; flowers. Fauna is animals. Like fawns. Oh look, a fawn, aaah. how cute.
Rubble is broken masonry. Detritus ("dee try tus” not “det tra tus") properly is anything dead that used to be alive. Roadkill. But it has come to encompass all kinds of waste material, including rubble.
To “defenestrate” is to throw something out a window. To throw something out a porthole is “littering at sea”. I don’t know if the act has an official word.
Opportunistic Jaws quote, Quint: “Front, bow. Back, stern. If ya don’t get it right, squirt, I throw your ass out the little round window on the side.”
Posted by Drew458
on 03/20/2014 at 10:10 PM
Filed Under: • News-Briefs • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •
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Permalink • Paid For Failure
New New York City Mayor De Blasio races to go belly up and settle lawsuit, agrees to pay out >$100 MILLION to 1,500 “firefighters” over raycis exam. Wait, strike that.
Abandoning a legal battle hard-fought by his predecessor, Mayor de Blasio on Tuesday agreed to have the city shell out more than $100 million to a group of 1,500 minority firefighter applicants who sued over FDNY entrance exams that were found to be biased.
De Blasio made no secret of his desire to settle the controversial case upon taking office in January and the Vulcan Society and its lawyers took full advantage, scoring $98 million out of a $128 million cap on the city’s financial exposure.
The generous settlement amount doesn’t include at least $3.7 million more the city will be on the hook for in fees to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Besides back pay, the settlement includes more than $6 million to cover lost medical payments, fringe benefits and interest. The payment method hasn’t been determined and will have to be approved by a federal judge.
If evenly distributed, the payout would be about $65,000 for each member of the class action.
In a related maneuver that reveals the extent of City Hall’s new orientation, city Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter was granted permission to have controversial Judge Nicholas Garaufis administer the plump payout and determine the lawyer fees.
Garaufis presided over the case, ruling in 2011 that the FDNY — and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, specifically — intentionally discriminated against minority applicants.
But an appeals court tossed the portion of his ruling that characterized the discrimination as intentional and assigned a new judge, citing Garaufis’ lack of impartiality. That key legal point directly impacted financial damages and the reputation of the FDNY. A new hearing with a different judge had been scheduled for later this month, but was scuttled with the settlement deal.
So Commie Boy to the rescue!! Because given the appeals court ruling, this case would either simply evaporate in court, or the settlement would shrink down to almost nothing. But hella no, gots to have them reparations!
So while he was there, he also shelled out nearly $4 Million to the Vulcan Society, a group of firemen kind of like the Professional Black Caucus in Congress. Because the firemen already have a union you know. So they need their own secondary organization, just for Black Folk. But don’t you effin’ dare make a Promethius Club for White firemen. That be raycis!
Doggamn. A brudda could do ai-ite, ai-ite indeed, just by dropping a packet of seeds on the ground (Pigford II) and then failing a test. Together, that’s into the 6 figure range. Free moneys! I be voting Democrat for the nex 200 years!
NOTE: If you would like to see what some of the questions on the horrible exam were like, go here. If you don’t get at least 8 of the 10 right, don’t come back. If you do get all 10 correct, plus the extra hard bonus picture question of the lamp shop, for which the correct answer is already circled, I will award free caulk to the first person who can figure out how these questions are legitimately racist.
NOTE 2: Pity party for the smart minority folks who aced the exam, and STILL couldn’t get the job. Say What??. Oh wait. First, the NYFD ran out of money one year, so they didn’t hire anybody. Raycis!! Then the courts declared that the tests they had given were racist, so all the results got thrown out. Which means nobody got hired from that now discredited exam. RAYCIS!! The real bottom line is that the entrance exam may not actually be actually racist, especially not after more than 40 years of anti-discrimination fine tuning, but the RESULTS are racially skewed. What the courts call “disparate impact.” Because these days, Equal Opportunity = Equal Outcome. And that’s Social Justice. Anything else ... is raycis.
She-it. Can I dig up a darkie ancestor somewhere so I can claim my One Drop, and go get me a check for $65 LARGE? Dis brudda be jonesin for dat.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/20/2014 at 06:31 PM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Racism and race relations •
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Permalink • Viral
Number lines: they’re like using a decimal abacus*, only less visual!
Obviously, Jack forgot to do the “ten’s place” part of the equation, leaving out the middle size dots on his number line. But the parent’s method is still faster. Too bad “Frustrated Parent” gets an “F” (in red ink probably!!) for NOT FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS (Jack’s frail little ego remains unstroked!).
PS - this thing is humor, Common Core is Teh Suck, but any REAL EE survivor has faced so damn much math in so many oddball forms that they can handle anything, even botched number lines.
* Abaci is what you have when you own more than one abacus.
UPDATE: PPS - as supported by Jeb Bush. Geez, the GOP really is suicidal, ain’t they??
Posted by Drew458
on 03/20/2014 at 01:51 PM
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Permalink • does not operate as advertised
Another huge waste of Stimulus “green energy” money
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A $2.3 million federal stimulus project at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Cloud is giving green energy initiatives a bad name.
A 600-kilowatt wind turbine—some 245 foot tall—stands on the wintry VA grounds, frozen in time and temperature, essentially inoperable for the past 1 1/2 years. No one is working to fix it, though many attempts were made to repair the turbine, once billed as a model green energy project.
“The St. Cloud VA is a hospital, and our focus is on our patients and we like to think that we treat our veterans very well here,” said Barry Venable, a public affairs officer for the VA in St. Cloud. “We’re embarrassed that this turbine does not operate as advertised.”
That’s quite the about-face from the buildup in December 2009 over the announcement of the central Minnesota turbine, the lone Department of Veterans Affairs project included in the White House document touting President Obama’s executive order for federal agencies to lead the way on renewable energy.
“Throughout the Federal Government, agencies are already leading by example toward building a clean energy economy. This document outlines some examples of projects, many of which leverage Recovery Act funding, that will drive long-term savings, build local market capacity, and create new private-sector clean energy jobs,” states an administration document called “E.O. 13514: Agencies Leading by Example.”
Today, critics call the solo St. Cloud wind turbine a leading example of something else—the failure of federal stimulus spending to deliver on renewable energy initiatives.
“Here in St. Cloud’s,” Dr. Larch wrote, “I have come to understand that promises are rarely kept, that the battle isn’t so much against evil as ignorance, and that being successful can’t hold a candle to being of *use*.”
― John Irving, The Cider House Rules
[ Drew: never miss an opportunity for a St. Cloud’s quote. Especially since this wind turbine is another form of what Irving’s book was all about. Right, Homer? ]
Unlike some wind farms in Minnesota, temperature extremes do not appear to be a factor in the turbine’s problems. Name just about anything else, however, and it’s gone wrong at some point since the completion of construction in April 2011, officials say.
The VA’s lengthy fix-it list includes the hydraulic system, electrical system, the main gear box and number other parts over the past three years. A Massachusetts-based contractor installed and has overseen maintenance on the turbine, which was made in India.
[ December 14, 2011 ] For months, the VA has been working to pass the wind generator out of its commissioning phase, which started shortly after the giant turbine went operational in late March.
But a process that was expected to take only a few weeks has stretched to more than nine months after a series of mechanical problems and failed power productivity expectations remained unresolved.
As of December, the $2.3 million, 600-kilowatt turbine had been shut down for weeks as Veterans Affairs worked with contractor JK Scanlan to get the project functioning to specifications.
[ 12/14/11 ] “Folks are disappointed. It’s quite the substantial investiment that the government made on behalf of the people and to not see it running is disappointing. We share that sentiment.”
Venable said no timetable is set for when the 107-ton turbine would be running at full efficiency, but talks continue toward setting the problem once and for all.
“We’re in discussion with the contractor and the contracting authorities. The key point here is that it was contracted by an outside agency, not us, and so, we’re having to work through intermediaries. But we’re in discussions with the contractor and working hard to resolve the issues,” Venable said.
Working hard. Right. Discussions with the contractor, uh huh. As in, Yellow, this is Mujibar, how may I be of helping you?” So, at best, this thing ran for a couple of months in early Fall 2011. Since then, it’s been offline for repairs almost continuously, and by August 2012 everyone had just given up on it. ie, all the money had been spent. Since then, it’s been left to rot. Way to go Obama; thanks for saving the planet.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/20/2014 at 10:43 AM
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •
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Permalink • Spring!
First day of Spring, and the sun is shining here, and it’s even nearly warm!! We had some overnight rain that started just after the window guy left yesterday, so the snowpack is really shrinking now. Sweet.
And what better way to mark the end of a dreary winter, than a little visit from my favorite Girl With 100 Names ...
Posted by Drew458
on 03/20/2014 at 09:29 AM
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •
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Permalink • Wednesday - March 19, 2014
on old age
I found this quote in the paper.
Passing it on.
Getting old is like being increasingly punished for a crime
you never committed.
Anthony Powell
Posted by peiper
on 03/19/2014 at 11:26 AM
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Permalink • Breezy
There’s a hole in my house where the wind blows in ...
With only a slight bit of snow left on the ground, and temps slightly above freezing (hey, Spring starts tomorrow, right?), we’ve got the replacement patio door guys here. The old sliding glass door was 35 years old, builder quality, aluminum frame, and leaked like a sieve.
I feel bad for the workman, but he’s bundled up like mad so I guess he’s warm enough. Doesn’t want any hot coffee or tea. But gosh. Cold. And it looks like this is going to take him the whole dang day. Brrr.
Horry Clap, I must be an Oracle. “take all day” I wrote. He got here at 8:15. It’s quarter after 2 and he’s still at it. Mostly done, but still at it. Don’t know if he’s had problems or not; the fellow doesn’t have much to say and we’re being good customers, staying out of the way and just letting him get his work done. He knows what he’s supposed to do. But my goodness - 6 hours for a pro to put in a slider, and he’s still at it? Things had better be super perfect for that kind of time.
4:15pm YAYY!!! Took forever, but the guy did a very nice job. Everything came out level, plumb, even, and seems properly attached. Good.
Can we go eat now? Yes we can!
Posted by Drew458
on 03/19/2014 at 09:58 AM
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Permalink • the politically correct always seem to win the day. wish we could be rid of them.
Just another example of the pandering to groups, of accommodating, of backing down.
In this case, all it took was just one foreign born young student by the name of Mamusu. Here’s a person who hasn’t a clue.
Racist? The movie is racist and so cancel the original planned theme for the ball.
GWTW was never my favorite movie but hell, I recognise how well it was done, and never thought of Negroes, the correct term in use back then, in a negative light based on the movie. I had other problems. I hated seeing the depiction of Atlanta being burned by those (censored).
It was a movie of romance, which for me all those many years ago was a bit of a bore.
But I don’t recall slavery being romanticised, and slavery wasn’t the main focus of the movie. But try and explain that to the politically correct ppl with names like Mamusu and Yasmin Lawal. And btw, that movie produced the first Oscar given to a black actress. It was a reflection of the times. Anyway, if students don’t approve of the theme, why not simply avoid it? Oh no. Can’t do that. Better to censor those who wouldn’t be ‘offended’ and easier too.
I had lots to say but .... best I don’t. Had I a cooler head ... yeah well, thing is I don’t.
Cambridge University college forced to drop ‘racist’ May Ball theme
A Cambridge University college has abandoned plans to hold a Gone with the Wind-inspired ball after complaints that the film is racist.
Officials at St Edmund’s College have admitted that the organising committee was forced to change the theme after concerns were raised about the Oscar-winning film.
Starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, the 1939 film is famous for the romance between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara but it has also been widely criticised for its depiction of black people.There is a high percentage of foreign students at the 19th-century college, with around two-thirds of the students coming from 60 countries.
Mamusu Kallon, who was born in Sierra Leone and is a student at St Edmund’s, said she was dismayed by the choice of theme for the ball.“It is a film that glamorises the romantic dreams of a slave owner and a KKK member while rendering the horrors of slavery invisible,” she said.
“The black characters fulfil every derogatory racist stereotype of the ‘slave’ and black people continue to be subject to the modern-day versions of these stereotypes. Surely Cambridge University should not be perpetuating this?”Last month, students at the college, which counts the Duke of Edinburgh as an honorary fellow, agreed to change the theme of the May Ball. A college spokesman said: “The committee initially selected the theme of Gone with the Wind, but then changed it to ‘Journey through the Seasons’ after concern was expressed by some of our students.
“The college felt that it would have only been necessary for it to intervene formally if the matter had not been resolved satisfactorily. The college supports the change of theme and is proud of its record of friendliness and cordiality.”
The row comes only a week after members of Cambridge’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) committee launched a campaign asking students to speak out about instances of discrimination. Yasmin Lawal, the president of the BME committee, stressed that the aim of the campaign was to raise awareness of the issues facing ethnic-minority students in Cambridge.
Ms Kallon, a third-year human, social and political science student, said that there were issues to be addressed.
“I think there is a serious gap between policy and practice, and a refusal to understand that racism is not just the N-word or explicit in nature.”
After the name change, organisers of the ball, for which tickets cost as much as £129, promised partygoers that they would “experience all four seasons in one memorable night”.
“Our college grounds will evoke fruitful autumn gardens, long midwinter nights, the early hours of spring and the fierce passion of midsummer,” they said.
Where reader comments are worth seeing.
Posted by peiper
on 03/19/2014 at 09:31 AM
Filed Under: • Politically Correct B.S. • Racism and race relations • Stoopid-People •
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Permalink • When Democracy and Multi-Culturalism Collide… the West will almost always back down
I don’t think she is saying anything most didn’t know. There are lots of very articulate people who write well, who say pretty much the same thing. Question is, is anyone listening?
I think I need to rephrase that. Is anyone listening who is in a position to stop the slide into hell?
H/T Algemeiner
When Democracy and Multi-Culturalism Collide
The Algemeiner
By Abigail R. EsmanImagine: You receive an e-mail from the friend of a friend, asking if he might stay with you for a week or so while visiting your town on business. “Of course,” you say, but caution him that your home can be a bit hectic: you have two children and two dogs. Your friend’s friend says he understands, and is grateful for your hospitality.
Now imagine your guest arrives and within days, informs you that his religion precludes him from living with dogs: you will have to remove yours from your home, at least for the duration of his stay. What do you do?
If you’re like most people, most likely you will suggest that he might more comfortable at a hotel. You may offer to ask other friends of yours if he might stay with them. What you are not likely to do is take the dogs to a kennel, or, should he extend his visit, give them away.
On the other hand, you might think, you do not know this man very well. What if he should become violent if you refuse his request? What if he were to hurt the dogs? What would you do then?
This is not entirely a hypothetical situation. Rather, it illustrates the conditions Western countries increasingly confront in the face of growing Muslim immigration, and the pressures democracies face in balancing their ideals of equal rights with often-undemocratic demands of Islamic culture.
In January, a student taking an online course at Toronto’s York University asked to be excused from the on-campus requirement, claiming, according to the New York Times, that “his religious beliefs did not permit casual contact with women.” While the professor denied the request, the university did not, on the grounds that “students who lived overseas and took online courses were not required to attend on-campus sessions.” Oddly, despite his so-called religious convictions, in the end, the student appeared for class, after all.
Who was right? The answers may prove critical to Canada’s future, and for the understanding of “democracy” in the face of growing multiculturalism in the West. For his part, the York professor argued that refusal to share a classroom with women implied that women were “second class citizens,” a concept incompatible with democratic views on gender equality. The school itself, however, pointed to the fact that others were also excused from the requirement, albeit for different reasons. In a democratic society, fair is fair; if one person doesn’t have to attend class, not everyone should be so required. And besides, democratic principles repudiate religious discrimination: the school, indeed Canada itself, would have to adapt. (The fact that Saudi and other Arab men frequently study at U.S. and other Western universities without complaint seems strangely never to have entered the discussion. It should have.)
Canada is hardly alone. Over the past decade or so, several Western governments and communities have agreed to enact changes demanded by their Muslim populations, not in the interest of equality so much as for fear of “insulting” Muslims, or even of the the possibility of violence.
Posted by peiper
on 03/19/2014 at 07:47 AM
Filed Under: • DIVERSITY BS • muslims •
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