Gasp! America is an English Speaking Nation!

Calling all activists – President Bush thinks Americans should speak ENGLISH!

When the president was asked at a Rose Garden question-and-answer session whether the anthem should be sung in Spanish, he replied: “I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English, and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.”

Holy cow, imagine that – immigrants integrating themselves in the society and culture in which they choose to live in. What a novel idea…

Taste for Battle

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the tongue speaks to both.

h/t: Small Dead Animals

Saddam’s Terrorism

Andrew Sullivan links this Foreign Affairs article detailing Saddam Hussein’s tyranny. He highlights this paragraph on Saddam’s promotion of terrorism(though not apparently with al-Qaeda):

The Saddam Fedayeen also took part in the regime’s domestic terrorism operations and planned for attacks throughout Europe and the Middle East. In a document dated May 1999, Saddam’s older son, Uday, ordered preparations for ‘special operations, assassinations, and bombings, for the centers and traitor symbols in London, Iran and the self-ruled areas [Kurdistan].’ Preparations for ‘Blessed July,’ a regime-directed wave of ‘martyrdom’ operations against targets in the West, were well under way at the time of the coalition invasion.

Sullivan concludes:

It was only a matter of time before Iraq deployed Islamist terror against the West. Those who sincerely marched against war in London in 2002 and 2003 were unwittingly marching to keep in power a regime planning to bomb and terrrorize them.

As happens much of the time in war, the results sometimes coincide (but don’t identify) with one’s stated intentions. The article doesn’t establish Saddam’s ties with al-Qaeda, but it seems he didn’t have to use al-Qaeda when he had Uday.

United 93 Gets it Right: Hero’s Dad

David Beamer, the father of the reputed leader of the resistance against the hijackers of United 93, Todd Beamer, which crashed in a Pennsylvania farm pasture before the hijackers could slam it into the White House, says the new United 93 movie gets it right, with neither smarmy patriotism nor multicultist guilt. A snippet:

There are those who question the timing of this project and the painful memories it evokes. Clearly, the film portrays the reality of the attack on our homeland and its terrible consequences. Often we attend movies to escape reality and fantasize a bit. In this case and at this time, it is appropriate to get a dose of reality about this war and the real enemy we face. It is not too soon for this story to be told, seen and heard. But it is too soon for us to become complacent. It is too soon for us to think of this war in only national terms. We need to be mindful that this enemy, who made those holes in our landscape and caused the deaths of some 3,000 of our fellow free people, has a vision to personally kill or convert each and every one of us. This film reminds us that this war is personal.

UPDATE: While we’re on the subject of parents, Warren Kinsella puts the coffin controversy for Canadian troops in Afghanistan into proper context.

Why are so many Jews Liberal?

It’s a question I’ve always asked myself, and Dennis Prager does a pretty good job explaining why Jews overwhelmingly support leftist parties.

Winnipeg Free Press and the Hitler-sympathizer

Raskolnikov’s gets abit angry and lays the smack down on Colleen Simard of the Winnipeg Free Press.

He Said What? Journalists Shy Away From Identifying Sources

A rather disturbing trend has descended upon journalism lately – many of the news stories published by news outlets contain nothing more than conjecture and speculation from unnamed sources.

For example, take a look at this story written by F. Abbas Rana at The Hill Times.

Note the language that is used:

one top Conservative, who did not want to be identified, told The Hill Times last week.

Some Liberals agree.

said one top Liberal who also did not want to be identified.

Tory insiders say they believe…

However, sources agreed…

Political insiders are waiting to see…

However, one Liberal said…

Yet, some Liberals say…

Moreover, The Hill Times reported last week (April 17) that several Liberal Senators…

however, another top Liberal also told…

one Liberal said despite…

The Liberal said some Liberals…

But federal Liberals also believe Prime Minister Harper’s…

Considering the amount of unnamed sources available in this article, it suddenly becomes hard to take what is written at face value. Without knowing the names of the various individuals cited and paraphrased in the article, how can I, or anyone else for that matter, be sure what is being reported is factually correct?

What qualifications are required in order to be considered a Tory or Liberal insider or a top Liberal or Conservative? Do journalists request to see a party membership card before proclaiming a source a Liberal, Conservative, NDP, etc?

At what point do articles like this one cease to be a news item and revert to a gossip column?

The Truth About Red Light Cameras – It’s All About Money

Think red light cameras save lives? Think again, thenewspaper.com has a roundup on the REAL effects red light cameras have on traffic collisions – they actually increase the amount of accidents.

Zing!: MacMillan on Travers

Here:

The word “choice” is not considered a “euphanism” when it comes to the question of abortion policy – so, why does Travers attempt to discredit choice when the issue is child care or health care?

Liberal Shangri-La: Women have control over their own uteruses but no say whatsoever over how their children are cared for.

Kim Campbell, a Model for Playboy Model

Phylis Syd, the McGill student who recently made a splash on the pages of Playboy, has claimed to be Edmontonian and a political science student. She now claims inspiration from Kim Campbell, as evidence for her own Albertan-ness.

If my “scandalous� streak wasn’t a good enough representation of a signature Albertan spirit, let me invoke a more “politically-conservative� comparison: As I am indeed politically interested, may I point to the footsteps that mark my political path. Correct me if I’m wrong but our country’s most historically significant female political leader was in fact a Tory, an interim PM and no stranger to posing in her birthday suit (albeit tastefully shielded). “Shamelessly� Yours, Phylis.

To my recollection, that is the first time I ever hear someone wanting to emulate Kim Campbell. That Campbell is cited as an inspiration for young ladies who like to strip or pose in the nude should not be a surprise.

Kim Campbell went to the London School of Economics for her Masters in Political Science. I am not sure whether she finished it or not, but when I met her in Calgary during the Tory leadership race in 1993, one of my friends asked her if she had studied with political scientist Michael Oakeshott, LSEs most renowned scholar at the time and of one the 20th century’s greatest minds. Campbell, after trying to figure out what to say for a few seconds, said that she had never had the time. All the way to London, but could not make the time. In short, Campbell is no example for young ladies, whether in politics or in political science

Kim Campbell, most historically significant? I don’t think so, unless footnotes are the most significant thing there is in history. A real Albertan would know that the most significant females in this country were conservative Albertans; one would have mentioned Nelly McClung, for example.

I am yet to meet one Albertan that thought that Kim Campbell was a Conservative or even conservative. It sure sounds like Syd Phylis is also posing as an Albertan and as a political science student.

Crossposted from Civitatensis.ca

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