by Art Lindsey III

RICHMOND, Va. — A 90-year-old Medal of Honor recipient can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowner’s association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.

Thank goodness. It’s nice to know that some order of sanity can still be maintained out there. What have we come to when homeowners associations are even entertaining the notion of American flags being code violations, let alone actually petitioning to have one removed from a decorated veteran’s home?

It boggles the mind to think that some people actually find one of the greatest symbols of freedom in the history of the human race to be an eyesore. How can this be when the flag is an icon of the one place on Earth where you actually have the right to complain about anything you want without fear of retribution? Wanting to see it removed is rather self-defeating, and well, stupid, isn’t it?

Why is it considered “patriotic” by some to show dissent or to burn a flag, yet to display a flag is interpreted as “offensive” ? Those two things just don’t add up, and one would most likely be hard-hard pressed to find an instance where the display of an American flag actually lowered property values, would they not?

We could spend countless hours debating the usefulness and the true nature of homeowners associations, but that’s not really the point, here. The greater point is that we’ve lost our collective minds. Men like Colonel Van T. Barfoot should be eternally celebrated, not hassled with such trifling things. This man served his country with honor and distinction. He should not be treated as a vandal. It is shameful, and disrespectful to the United States Armed Forces as a whole, and freedom-loving Americans everywhere.

The fact that something like this escalates to the point where White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is forced to comment on it, saying the whole thing was “silly”, once again aids credibility to the argument that common sense in America is in fact dead. Yet, at the same time, Robert Gibbs should be praised for actually getting something right for a change.

Maybe there is “hope” after all.

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) gave a speech on the senate floor yesterday to push for “Rosa’s Law”. Rosa’s law is a piece of legislation that mandate the phrase “mentally disabled” be used in place of “mentally retarded” when referring to such citizens on health and education paperwork.

“In changing the language, we believe it will be the start of new attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities.”

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This madness must end. America is in the middle of two strenuous wars, and we have an economy on the brink of total collapse, yet we have a senator who seems preoccupied with the use of a certain descriptor used in government documentation. Yet again, another bleeding heart Democrat who is more concerned with feeling good, rather than doing good for the nation as a whole.

Now, before I get chastised for being heartless by those who would accuse me of standing in the way of a little girl’s supposed happiness, I would like to disclose the following:

I am physically disabled. I have Cerebral Palsy, which prevents me from walking without the assistance of an orthopedic device or another person. I have been called many things, such as “disabled”, “differently-abled”, “handicapped”, “handi-capable”, “crippled”, and a few other words along the way that can’t be shared here.

Guess what?

In spite of all the labels that have been assigned to me and others like me, one thing has remained constant:

My condition has never changed. People need to learn that while words do have meaning, which is important, context is also a key component in this equation. For instance, “retard” means to slow or hinder. It does not mean “stupid”, and the modifiers “mental” or “mentally” refers to the type of impediment. It is not, in and of itself, an attempt at ridicule or character assassination. Referring to someone as “mentally retarded” in official paperwork is not the same as yelling it in anger toward the person who cut you off at the intersection. It just isn’t. The words have a benign meaning. It’s the context in which they are used that can change them.

Quite frankly, when one looks at this objectively, this proposed law is nothing more than a time wasting exercise by those in our legislature, which will change nothing, except maybe making a few self-loathers feel better about themselves.

For the Record, the namesake of this legislation, Rosa Marcellino, has Down’s syndrome. She is, for all intents and purposes, mentally retarded. She is also 7 years old. With that in mind, one could probably say with a high degree of certainty that Rosa has no interest in official health and education paperwork at this point in her life. So, it stands to reason that this crusade was most likely started by a family member looking for attention, and Rosa is to be used as a face for it.

Honestly, that is just sad.

More than that, has anyone thought of the road this could lead us down? This is one step away from thought policing. How long will it be before legislation is introduced which will prevent us from saying certain words? It may very well be just around the corner. Such measures may never pass, but the mere possibility of such things being proposed should frighten any freedom-loving American.

We should be more concerned with today’s truly pressing matters. There are circumstances today which threaten our very way of life, yet some of our legislative officials seemed more concerned with how you feel, and more importantly, how they feel about themselves. The future of America is too important. We shouldn’t be wasting time on this drivel.

Words are just words. The only powers they have to offend are the ones that we decide to give them.

President Obama recently bowed to Emperor Akihito in Japan. At this point, one might wonder exactly who is advising Barack Obama, if any one at all. If you will recall, this is the latest in what seems to be a string of inappropriate greetings in international settings by our Commander-in-Chief.

So far to date, Barack Obama has bowed to Saudi King Abdullah, given an exaggerated nod to Queen Elizabeth II, and there has been speculation as to whether or not he has offered a similar gesture to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

This is troublesome, and embarrassing. Common sense would indicate that it would more than likely be difficult for international leaders to take our president seriously if he is constantly subordinating himself to them. Perception goes a long way on the international stage, and at this juncture, an honest observer of the situation would be hard pressed to find an incident where Obama has projected himself as leader of the free world when he travels abroad, let alone an equal.

For those who would argue that President Obama is trying to “make amends” for some of America’s supposed arrogance of the past, it should be made known that bowing to other leaders is not a traditional form of greeting, particularly in the case of Emperor Akihito. The Emperor is most commonly greeted with a simple handshake.

So, with that in mind, it could be fair to say that what is going on here goes far beyond supposed protocol. This appears to be another whistle-stop in the “Obama Apologizes for America tour”. It doesn’t seem that he has given up on his concept of being a “citizen of the world”, and it looks like he intends to remain in a never ending campaign to be personally adored until the end of his term in office.

Americans thought they had elected a leader. It doesn’t look like that happened. Instead, they got a teenage girl who just transferred to a new school and is desperate to do anything to fit in with the cool kids. However, unlike high school, when President Obama ends up getting stuffed in a locker, America will be the one who feels the pain and humiliation.

Because you’re sure as hell not going to get me to shut up.

Call me a racist, call me an Islamaphobe, call me anything you want. But if you want to silence me, you’ll have to kill me.

Oy.

A deaf teenager has won a landmark discrimination case after she was humiliated on sports day because she could not hear announcements telling her to stop running, it has emerged.

Laura Trudgill, 13, is profoundly deaf but was not provided with an individual signer on sports day to help her understand the complicated rules of 24 team activities.

She stood when the rest of the school sat, ran when others stopped and did activities incorrectly because she could not hear the teacher telling her she was wrong.

The event was designed to forge bonds between deaf and hearing pupils but led to deep embarrassment for Laura who became an object of fun.

So the school, which went out of its way to hold an even bringing deaf and hearing students together, has been found at fault here for “humiliating” this girl.

A special education needs and disability tribunal (Sendist) found Colman Middle School, in Norwich, had unlawfully discriminated against Laura.

Laura’s mother Karen Park, 35, and dad Gary Trudgill, 50, of Norwich, fought the case with the backing of the National Deaf Children’s Society (NCDS).

Karen, a part-time volunteer for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, said: ‘Laura might as well have been lumped in with a load of Russians on sports day.

‘The effect would’ve been the same - she wouldn’t have had any idea what was going on.

No word from the Russians as to whether they will sue for discrimination at that remark.

So lemme get this straight: The school holds an inclusiveness exercise, and then is found guilty of “unlawful discrimination” - a crime, if you will. All because some deaf chick had a bad day. Puh-lease, if I sued everyone involved every time I had a bad day, I’d be Warren freakin’ Kinsella!

Used to be a time when other countries made fun of the USA for its litigiousness. Those days are soooo gone. The United States now seems to be the only country where you can’t sue for hurt feelings.

We are of course at the end of the year and thoughts and wishes turn to 2009 and what that year will be like for each of us. Most thoughts of course are naturally personal. Happiness love and prosperity. For many of us, its political. What will the environment be like in the western world. I’m going to guess most readers of this blog already recognize there are problems with western liberal democracy. Massive ones. Earth shaking ones as the experiment in equality and freedom fails. I’m going to guess that few know what to do about it as our politicians over all seem more worried about the illusion of stability rather than the true maintenance of liberalism as Thomas Jefferson saw it.

I believe right to my heart and bones that the only thing that can be done is in fact individual acts of defiance. But defiance of what? Of ill^liberalism. Of imposed tyranny by the intolerant left, Islam, all who would tell us what we are allowed to say think wear and do.

History has a few consistent messages for us. When we submit to tyranny more will follow. Even when its something benign and seemingly for the public good such as no smoking sections in bars and restaurants by legislation which violates larger principles of freedom of property and individual rights it leads to absurd laws such as we have for patio’s now where any outdoor patio which has any degree of fixed cover or even too many umbrellas may not allow patrons to have a cigarette and a beer in the same place.

I ask you especially who despise cigarettes and ask yourselves if this loss of freedom is worth it to you.

When Ezra Levant and the Western standard were taken to the Human rights courts for 900 days of investigations and what would amount to about 5 years salary for me in costs to defend himself from accusations of racism for publishing the Danish cartoons, the center of a storm which was the largest news story on planet earth for months, one has to ask what the cost to all of us was for the submission by everyone else to not publish.

Once we agree to not say or do anything that might offend Muslims we are in fact living as second class citizens or ‘Dhimmis’ under a form of proxy sharia law. In this spirit I ask you for your defiance. The T shirts available here are a great statement. but not the only one possible. The distinction between deliberate offense of a religion for its own sake such as the ‘art’ piece which was proudly displayed at the National Gallery of Canada, ‘The Piss Christ’ which was merely a Catholic crucifix in a jar of urine was celebrated by the art world. The art world needs to know that under Islam art is forbidden altogether short of a few decorative lines on clay pots.

Additionally, most modern thinkers would have us believe that daring to confront the religious authority, any religious authority would be the work of the artist, the consummate renegade, the social malcontent or the plainly retarded. But defiance at it’s best is the domain of all thinking men and women; those whose refusal to submit to the workings of irrational codes of conduct ensures the natural progression of the creative, human mind. It was no coincidence that Hitler’s regime sought out first and foremost to capture and destroy artists; Pol Pot was no different in his culling and extermination of the most dangerous minds to him and the Iranian regime first murdered over one hundred thousand people in the arts, the very people the Ayatollah used to overthrow the Shaw and install the Islamic regime in Iran. But the artists now here as then are merely the useful idiots for the new tyrants of political correctness and ironically Islam.

So wear a T shirt which shows non submission. With an image of Mohamed or whatever. Maybe showing the stone Buddhas that the Taliban destroyed as a signal to the world. Collectors offered to buy the statues at the time and move them but the Taliban wanted to be clear that Islam would not tolerate images of other faiths nor even any image of something god made as they see it to merely exist . No images of people or animals as we see in Bangladesh where Muslims are busy destroying works of art depicting flocks of birds and frankly of anything at all.

We KNOW what submission brings. More demands for more submission. I ask for defiance. Eat a ham sandwich during Ramadan for lunch. Why is that defiant? In England governments are being asked not to serve food at all during daylight hours in meetings of city council so as not to ‘offend’ the muslims there.

What we in Canada especially consider an opportunity to be polite and show kindness by adjusting to the sensitivities of others no matter how irrational has become in fact the first step to actually mandating these acts of submission. They are simply no longer acts of kindness when they are forced.

This may be a good time to remind people how Galileo drew a cartoon of the pope in his courageous book on celestial mechanics for which he was jailed. One could argue that had he not ridiculed the church it may have slowed down the growth of reason in Europe a great deal. It was his willingness to personally sacrifice by ridiculing irrational religious authority that bought us all freedom beyond the understanding of most of humanity for most of our history. To be clear on this, its not merely a right to criticize irrational religious authority, its a duty and even a historical responsibility to do so.

We have become not only good at destroying every taboo in western classical society by questioning it out of existence we have become cynical about them. This as a stand alone thing, not so bad. But add to it a kind of fascination with primitive and barbaric even superstitious cultures and the notion that because we represent our own history as barbaric usually with little or no understanding of it, we somehow think that those culture’s current barbarism is somehow to be expected and accepted. Be warned, we are indeed truly on a precipice to the end of a golden age of liberty and individualism.

Ultimately I would like to extend to all liberals those who agree and those who hate me but choose to answer me by arguing and hopefully changing my mind, my favorite moments are when I am shown to be wrong and accept a new view by reason, a merry Christmas and all the best fruition of your hopes and dreams for the new year. To the irrational and authoritarian left, to those Muslims who believe I have a right to think and live exactly as you do, who would force me to submission of your values like the Human Rights Commission did to Rev. Boission, I offer you scorn. Scorn contempt and defiance.

James Cohen Dec 2008

Each night as I go to sleep behind my locked doors, I pray that the men and women we’ve entrusted with our protection will keep me safe through the night, so I can rest in the blissful ignorance that comes with feeling secure. And now, thanks to political correctness, that security is all but assured for Londoners….

Sir Ian Blair’s force is spending 15,000[pounds sterling] of public money creating “ethnically diverse” police mascots after one officer complained that the original white male model was alienating women and ethnic minority staff.

Scotland Yard approved the cost for creating a cast of four police figures including an Asian female community support officer called Sunita.

Sir Ian said: “These characters will be more representative of London’s population and the diverse range of police personnel.

“The choice of characters will allow the concept of a Safer Neighbourhoods team to be presented to young children as well as delivering an important message about the different roles of PCSOs and constables.”

The project has now been renamed “Police Pals” and police officer versions of the costumes will also be made.

The 12 new costumes - four for each character - include PCSO Steve, an Asian woman PCSO named Sunita, and a man and a woman police constable. They are expected to be ready early next year.

The 15,000[pounds sterling] bill includes 600[pounds sterling] in design costs and 14,400[pounds sterling] for the creation of four suits for each of the three characters.

Sir Ian has striven to make the Met more ethnically diverse.

In the month he started as Commissioner in February 2005, the Oxford English graduate replaced the phrase “visible ethnic minority” with “minority group”.

Last year, he asked his officers to declare whether they are homosexual, a first step to setting up quotas for numbers of gay and lesbian officers.

Sleep in peace, London. The PC Police have your back.