Social Issues – Page 3 – OfficiallyScrewed.com

OS Bookshelf – America Alone-The End Of The World As We Know It By Mark Steyn

January 21, 2007Mulder

When I first heard Mark Steyn speak I thought to myself “This man is going to get knocked off by a hit man!” If that wasn’t enough to get me hooked then perhaps it was the ease with which he lays out facts and cuts through the politically correct haze most other writers/speakers are surrounded with.

In America Alone-The End Of The World As We Know It, Steyn lays out the demographic facts that show how America (yes, Alone) is the only nation in the free world producing enough offspring to sustain its’ own existence. Italy and Russia sitting at 1.2 and Spain producing a paltry 1.1 children per two adults and even Canada producing only 1.5. When the requirement for sustained population is 2.1 (when mortality is taken into account) the only nation in the free world producing enough offspring to sustain itself without immigration is the United States.

But Steyn points out that when we look at other parts of the world the story is quite different. Niger – 7.46, Mali – 7.42, Somalia – 6.76, Afghanistan – 6.69, Yemen – 6.58. To quote Mr. Steyn:

Notice what those nations have in common? Starts with an I, and ends with a slam. As in: slam dunk.

But Steyn doesn’t just look at the demographics of declining western culture and skyrocketing Islamism. He addresses the demasculation of society and the culture of bleeding heartism that lead to statements by people like Osama bin Laden that say America is weak. She has no teeth. It isn’t the military he is talking about. It is the soft underbelly in our society that sees fit to give in to every whining small L liberal.

Whatever your political stripes, this book is an eye opener and a must read in my opinion. After you read it, make sure you give the book to a friend and make them read it too.

ADDENDUM: If you don’t have time to read the book, watch Mark Steyn’s speech to the Heritage Foundation by clicking here.

Now on to Paul Wells’ latest Right Side Up – The Fall Of Paul Martin And The Rise Of Stephen Harper’s New Conservatism.

Hounddog Won't Get My Money

January 20, 2007Mulder

When I heard that the movie Hounddog was going to have a scene which 12 year old actress Dakota Fanning acts like she is being raped by her father, I got sick to my stomach.

I know that incest and child abuse are topics on TV and in the movies all the time, but to portray the video of it is crossing a line I don’t think has been crossed before and I for one will not support the movie by watching it, renting it, or giving it the liberty of being played on my TV when it comes out on Pay TV.

The issue of incest/child abuse can be portrayed just fine without filming a rendition of it. I can only think of one reason this scene would be shot and needless to say Roman Polanski comes to mind.

Michael Coren says it best:

Then they’ll sit back and look smug and caring and enlightened when moral and religious types argue that it’s emotionally and sexually unhealthy to use child rape as a form of titillation for witless audiences.

Some have argued that it’s fine because Fanning’s mother was present during the ordeal and approved of her daughter’s work.

Oh, well, that’s OK then. After all, there has never been a neurotic mother of an actor child in Hollywood, living her life vicariously and enjoying the money and glamour of being mum to a star.

It really is extraordinary that the same sort of people who routinely attack traditional parenting and vehemently oppose even mild spanking are so supportive of a mother’s right to allow her 12-year-old child to behave in such a manner.

Frankly, any criticism will only encourage the chattering classes and inflate still further their sense of self-righteous paranoia.

A child here, a moral code there, a broken generation somewhere else. Doesn’t matter, as long as you’re the centre of attention at a fashionable party.

What makes the last statement by Coren so valid to me is that Deborah Kampmeier, the director of Hounddog has credits in two movies to date and both are themed around some sexual act.

Her first film, Virgin, is about girl who finds herself pregnant without remembering having had sex so she concludes that she is carrying the child of god.

I guess Kampmeier has discovered that sex sells in our society. Either that or she had a really screwed up childhood that we are will hear about when she writes her memoirs in a decade or two.

Crack Pipe Kits NOT Municipal Jurisdiction

January 19, 2007Mulder

As Ottawa city council works through ways through the budget for 2007, the issue of spending money on free “crack pipe kits” has come up again. And, as expected, the Ottawa medical officer of health, David Salisbury, is defending the program.

However, the police chief is standing by his statements too.

Police Chief Vince Bevan has said that he opposes the program because it promotes illegal drug use.

“The chief’s position is clear on this,” said spokeswoman Isabelle Lemieux.

Am I wrong in assuming that a program designed to minimize the spread of HIV and Hep C should be left to the provincial government? I always thought health care was provincial jurisdiction.

In fact, last fall during the election run, I called in to a radio show hosting the candidates for Cumberland ward (not my ward) and asked how the candidates would vote if the idea of safe injection clinics was brought up. Rob Jellett, the incumbent, was the only one who stated clearly that this fell under provincial jurisdiction. Since safe injection clinics give free needles and are there to help prevent the spread of diseases, one would conclude the free crack pipe kit program is in the same boat.

I think we need more of city council to read Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species.

ADDENDUM

From CFRA:

Ottawa Police are responding to the scolding they received from the city’s Medical Officer of Health.

A frustrated Dr. David Salisbury says the police service has done everything in its power to interfere with the needle exchange and crack pipe programs by confiscating the kits. However, Ottawa Police Superintendent Gilles Larochelle isn’t offering any apologies.

He says in a criminal investigation, police will seize drug paraphenalia(sic) no matter where it came from. He adds they sometimes take away the pipes for “safety reasons”.

ARARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH … Just Shoot Me

December 17, 2006Mulder

So I got up this morning and flipped open the big 24 page Arar section in my Sunday edition of the Ottawa Citizen. For some reason, it just didn’t have quite as much information for me and the text just wasn’t cutting it for my audio/visual personality. (image is from actual Ottawa Citizen website)

This drove me to flip on the boobtube and I caught a couple of hours of CTV-Ararnet. For those of you not on digital cable … you lose!! But for some reason, they missed some of the choice audio clips that I was really looking forward to hearing today. (I read about them on Dear Arar, the syndicated advice column designed for people who missed out on past Arar events.)

So I proceeded to turn on my Sirius digital satellite radio to listen to the 24/7 Arar call in talk radio show called Arar You Sirius? and dialled in a few times to try to ask about these hidden audio gems. No dice. The lines were packed with angry callers from Damascus demanding photos of his Syrian passport.

So, I just did the same old, same old and visited the www.arar.youtube.com hoping one of the Arararrazzi caught some good cellular phone video footage that they uploaded. Now and then I find some really awesome audio to go along with the video.

Barring this, I will just have to catch that Gemini winning, CBC reality show Terror Error – The Maher Arar Affair. Season 5 is available on DVD in time for Christmas. (nudge nudge wink wink to my wife)

Same Sex Marriage – Promise Made, Promise Kept

December 6, 2006Mulder

Ok, so we know that if it came to vote, chances are slim to none that reversing the same sex marriage legislation will get overturned. But I must point a couple of things out.

1) On the first day of policy announcements last December during the election run, Stephen Harper came right out and announced that this motion would come up. So he is keeping another one of the promises that he made during the election run.

2) This motion is not to reverse the decision. This motion that is being debated is to decide whether or not to reopen the decision via a motion and debate.

3) This time around, their may actually be a free vote to determine if the issue should be reopened, but I am betting dollars to donuts that if it is reopened Stephane Dion whips his caucus to vote against redefining the term.

and most importantly,

4) The Supreme Court ruled that all the rights and priviledges that married couples have are to be extended to same sex couples. But, and this is a big but, the term marriage and how it is to be defined was returned to the House of Commons to decide on. The Supreme Court knows that a decision like this should be left up to the people via a free vote by their MPs. (or possibly via a referendum/plebiscite which would be my preference)

I think when such a divisive issue is presented before the populace, that even our “electoral” system of representation does not go far enough to present an accurate representation of what the laws of the land should be. I say this because despite what the left leaning parties say, the term marriage being removed from same sex unions would make the pill much easier to swallow for millions of Canadians.

I have to ask. After doing everything within their power to stand out and be different from the mainstream of society, why does the gay community choose this word to rejoin the populace on? Can a suitable term not be found? As I have often advocated for a term like “parriage” (or pairage) to be used. It would be close enough to signify the relationship and far enough to satisfy those who will not recognize the marriage due to religious beliefs, even if the state does.