Civil Rights Roundup

The issue of civil rights for blacks has surfaced quite a bit in discussions around the province in the last month. Freedom Ontario, a group based out of Ottawa, has been sending letters to cities around the province demanding that they abolish slavery, noting that Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms declares the act of using blacks as slaves as illegal, on the grounds of racism and freedom.

The council in the town of Napanee, about 43 kilometres west of Kingston, Ont., is among those who refuse to comply.

Napanee Coun. Peter Veltheer wasn’t shy when asked his opinion about Freedom Ontario’s campaign.

“Well, first of all, I think it’s a bunch of crap,” he said. “We’ve been carrying on with slavery here for probably 100 years and there’s been no problem with it.”

Councillors say they have received many calls of support from constituents.

Freedom Ontario has complained to the Ontario government about the actions of town councils such as Napanee’s, but Minister of Municipal Affairs John Gerretsen said the province will not speak out against their use of a slaves.

“It’s been part of our standard procedure here for over 210 years,” he said.

When reported by the CBC, there was a backlash against Freedom Ontario by slavery supporters:

Abolition is not a Canadian concept. It is an American one. (research the Civil War.) 210 years of Canadian tradition is not something you erase with a “made in America” mantra that’s been taken out of context all along.

The founders of our country were not abolishers, but some where slave owners who wanted to stop the state from interfering in their economic pursuits. I think they’d puke if they realized how their intentions have been twisted and reinterpreted.

Said Steve, the first commentator on the “Your View” page for the article. The third commenter, known only as APM said,

That an organization professing to be a progressive movement has nothing better to do with its time than mount an attack on tradition and common goodwill is both sad and disgusting.

Slavery echoes the values and beliefs that this country was founded on, and that a majority of us (regardless of what minority rights groups like this one would lead you to believe) still hold to. Who would take care of the slaves if not their masters?

Another use, “J Sudol” asked,

Why is it we all have to conform to the minority so as we do not seem to be treading on their rights, beliefs etc? What about the rights of the majority? Napanee Coun. Peter Veltheer, good for you, pretty soon some group will be telling you they are offended by you stoning gays.

Some, like Ruth Chamberlain, supported the Freedom Ontario’s goals:

We live in a society where our rights are protected in part by abolition; it is partially this idea that safeguards our right to freedom . Slavery of any kind have no place in a free country.

(This article is a parody of “Ontario group threatens court action over Lord’s Prayer“. Last Updated: Friday, January 26, 2007 on CBC.ca as well as the Your View discussion.)

Should race be protected by the Charter?

The National Post is reporting a poll about the public impressions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. From the results, the pollster found that 62% of Canadians support adding race to the equality rights covered by the Charter, which currently protects against discrimination based on national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age and mental or physical disability. The proposed change to protect people of other races was opposed by 29% and the remainder were unsure. Support for including race was strongest in Quebec, at 73%, and lowest in the West, at 57%.

(This is a parody of At 25, charter is misunderstood posted Thursday, February 08, 2007 in the National Post.)

Gays ‘stigma’ too much for Charity

The Breast Cancer Society of Canada has rejected the offer of thousands of dollars from a fundraising group of gays and lesbians in Vancouver.

Vancouver Gays and Lesbians for Cancer holds an annual charity event in memory of a gay rights activist who lost her life to the disease.

Last year, the event raised $6,000.

However, the organizer said the society sent her an e-mail declining the money this year, because its major donors did not support a connection to gays and lesbians.

She says the society has taken the group’s contributions in the past.

“I really feel that it’s a strong indication of the degree of the stigma that gays and lesbians experience when an organization doesn’t even want to be associated with them for fear of experiencing the same stigma.”

Ricketts said her group is still looking for a cancer charity that will accept a donation.

The annual event will be held next month at a downtown hotel.

(This is a parody news article about of “Exotic dancers’ ‘stigma’ too much for charity“)

Morons on the road

I suppose that this entry is actually very much related to the entry Kiasu. It’s a word that describes the competition we feel in every day life. It doesn’t mean competition to get money, or anything like that. It means being afraid to loose, usually at very, very silly things. It means you want to be the first in line at the store, the first to get going when the light turns green.

When I drive my car I watch the traffic light ahead of me. If it turns red I tend to take my foot off the gas, even if I’m a block away form the traffic light. I’ll just slowly slow down and come to a stop at the light. I’m always amazed at the number of people who will switch lanes, speed up to get ahead of me, just to stop next to me at the red light. Where were they going? They actually increased their speed to come to a stop.

People in a rush weave in and out of lanes trying to get ahead of everyone around them. Interestingly, I’ve heard people say that such weaving is what slows down traffic in the first place.

I always keep an eye on the people who weave in front of me, and then back out. I find it really funny, in a sad sort of way. At one stop light, they are right in front of me. And the next stop light, they are two cars ahead of me. And the next, three. Rarely do they every get much farther ahead of me. And more often than not, I pass them as they are trying to make a left hand turn.

Why do they do this? Statistics show that most people are running late when they get in their car. So they race to where ever they are going, usually causing more traffic by weaving in and out of lanes, or getting in to car accidents. Just a week ago I finished driving over one thousand kilometers in a week, traveling up north. The closest I got to a car accident was just outside my home town. I was driving along, speeding only slightly in the right-hand lane of a 400 series highway. (In other words, of I was in the “slow” lane of a six lane highway. A guy sped past me, doing about 50% over the speed limit, on the EXIT ramp, reeving over just in front of me, just missing concrete divider as the exit ramp left the highway. I was “nervous” when this was happening.

The difference between that moron and most drivers is merely a matter of degree. I think that most drivers in southern Ontario, especially those who drive in Toronto and Toronto’s breakfast communities, are morons. If your driving slowly, merge right. If not, stay in the left hand lane. Traffic will move much faster, and will be much safer, than it currently is. Don’t be a moron.

Antimoron: Al Sharpton

Perhaps it’s not enough to point the finger at morons like Alan Keyes. Perhaps showing non-morons would help educate the average moron.

My religion does not support homosexuality, but I do. I was asked why I was supporting and marching with the homosexuals in parades, when according to the church, homosexuality is a sin. I responded that God gave people free will. God gave people the right to choose-even to choose sin. That’s why there is a heaven and a hell. So I will fight for people to have the right to go to hell if that’s what they choose. I’m not here to judge. I was placed here to fight for justice for all people.
Al On America, by Rev. Al Sharpton, p. 88-89 Jan 1, 2002
(Source: http://www.Issues2000.org/)

Although I would have toned down the hell talk myself, I believe that it’s not only a bad idea to legislate moralty (and whose morality would we legislate?), but impossible to legislate that everyone must go to heaven. Simply can’t be done. Let’s focus on problems we can solve anywhere.

Moron Award: Minnesota Appeals Court

A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the presence of encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.
(Source: C|Net News)

Let me first say that this man was definitely guilty of child-porn related charges. That is no question about it. The problem is that the judge used the fact that he had PGP encryption software on his computer as evidence of “criminal intent”. (I myself have used GnuPG, which in an OpenPGP type encryption program.)

Having an encryption program on your computer is no more evidence of criminal intent than having a shredder. PGP stand for “Pretty Good Privacy”. It is primarily used for encrypting emails. I know of some people who encourage everyone to use this encryption because they don’t like the idea of hackers or the government spying on what you write in your emails. Although the program can be used to encrypt illegal files, there were no encrypted files on the defendant’s computer what-so-ever.

For being short sighted, and jumping to conclusions, I grant the 3 judges on the court of appeals as well as the judge who originally handed down the guilty verdict a Moron Award. The scary part is, these are supposed to be unbiased judges who don’t jump to conclusions.

Moron Award: Alan Keyes

To cheers and shouts of “Amen”, Keyes attacked this week’s ruling in San Francisco that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry. (story) Keyes told the crowd of nearly 1000 that “one lonely judge comes along and says ‘No. That’s not how its going to be.'”

He told the audience that allowing a judge to rule that same-sex couples can marry is a form of tyranny.
365gay.com Keyes: ‘Homosexuals Are Destroying America’

Alan Keyes, a former US Ambassador, conservative broadcaster, and failed senate candidate, said what is quoted above. Apparently, he hasn’t let his daughter’s coming out effect his anti-gay pronouncements in the least. I nominate Alan Keyes as the first person awarded the Indefual.ca Moron Award for grossly misunderstanding the definition of tyranny:

Noun: tyranny (plural tyrannies)

1. A government in which a single ruler has absolute power
2. The office or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler
3. Absolute power, or its use
4. Extreme severity or rigour

Wiktionary: Tyranny

<mock>Oh no! Help! The government is being so tyrannical by… doing something that doesn’t effect me at all!

Help!</mock>