Saturday, December 28, 2013

Leftists clearly don’t mean what they say when they sing the praises of nondiscrimination statutes

[The A&E] network is clearly petrified of the tolerance bullies 
laments Benny Huang.
The homosexual left claimed another scalp … with the indefinite suspension of America’s favorite bearded backwoods hunter, Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty.

 … The curious case of the Duck Dynasty star is not about the first amendment as some have contended. The US Constitution does not bind private employers. Sometimes speech comes with consequences and sometimes those consequences mean losing your job. Ask Martin Bashir about that. I happen to think that the perpetually offended homosexuals at GLAAD should cease and desist with their childish temper tantrum and start modelling that tolerance thing they’re always talking about, but that doesn’t mean that Robertson’s rights have been violated.

 While free speech may not be an issue here, religious discrimination is. Robertson was suspended for vocalizing his religious beliefs. It would be no different than asking a Hindu if he thinks eating beef is wrong then suspending him for saying yes. Cattle eaters of the world, of which I am one, have neither the persecution complex nor the well-funded, well-organized political machine that homosexuals have.

My contention that Robertson is the victim of illegal employment discrimination will not sit well with so-called liberals, who interpret religious discrimination so narrowly as to include almost nothing. These same people interpret discrimination based on sexual orientation so broadly that it means everything up to and including sexual conduct. Conduct is not orientation but applied law treats it that way for all practical purposes. A liberal might say that he wasn’t punished for his religion but for making “bigoted” comments.

That’s like saying that we didn’t fire you for being gay but for saying that you’re gay. A liberal might also argue that it’s not discrimination because A&E doesn’t have a blanket policy barring Christians. As long as they don’t suspend all Christians in one sweep there’s no discrimination. Another smokescreen. If A&E suspended one black employee for his skin color but continued to employ another, that would still be discrimination.

 … Leftists clearly don’t mean what they say when they sing the praises of nondiscrimination statutes. There is always a disconnect between their words and their actions when the victim of discrimination is a Christian. Take, for example, this quote taken from the US Department of Justice’s website: “People should be hired or not hired because of their skills and merit, not because of their faith. And people should not be forced to choose between their faiths and their jobs.”

Except Phil Robertson.

 … Liberals support anti-discrimination laws because it allows them to feel magnanimous. They like to think of themselves as the anti-bigots yet they can’t bring themselves to enforce the laws they pass when religion is the sticking point, particularly if that religion happens to be Christianity.

  … all private sector nondiscrimination laws are stupid. They insert the government into the employment relationship, forcing one party to engage in a transaction against his will. In the absence of a contract, either party should be free to dissolve the relationship at any given time.

I am completely consistent about this. Some types of discrimination are indeed ugly and immoral but it isn’t the government’s business to force citizens to associate with people they don’t want to.

Friday, December 27, 2013

The Map of France, as Seen by a Parisian

La carte de France vue par les Parisiens

(Four similar maps available in the right margin — obrigado para OT)

Monday, December 23, 2013

Smart Diplomacy: Boeing's Super Hornet Banned From Brazil's Fighter Sales Because of Fury Over NSA Scandal


From the annals of Smart Diplomacy: In Le Monde articles by Nicolas Bourcier and Dominique Gallois, whose main point is that France's Rafale fighter (pictured) lost the fight for Brazil's air force to Sweden's Gripen (with 0 sales of France's latest warplane so far, what country can be expected to purchase it?), we learn as an aside that Boeing's Super Hornet — once the favorite of the Brazilian military's wishes — was ousted when Brazil learned of the NSA spying scandal and after Dilma Rousseff complained of Barack Obama's "grave violation of human rights" and "disrespect to national sovereignty".
« LE TRANSFERT DE TECHNOLOGIE, UN DES ÉLÉMENTS LES PLUS IMPORTANTS »

En choisissant, mercredi, le Gripen NG du suédois Saab aux dépens du groupe français et du F/A-18 Super Hornet de l'américain Boeing, la présidente Dilma Rousseff a opté pour l'avion considéré par les experts comme le moins cher. Selon la presse locale, il avait également la préférence des militaires brésiliens depuis plusieurs années.

Ce choix permet en outre de ménager – un an avant l'élection présidentielle au Brésil – la gauche du Parti des travailleurs (PT, au pouvoir) qui aurait vu d'un très mauvais oeil la signature d'un contrat avec l'avionneur américain quelques mois à peine après les révélations sur l'espionnage de la présidence brésilienne par l'Agence nationale de sécurité (NSA).

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Vive la Raison d'État: French Readers Send Broadsides Against Capitalists Like Mikhail Khodorkovsky

In reaction to Piotr Smolar's Le Monde story on Vladimir Putin's liberation of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (along with 20,000 other prisoners), readers lash into the Yukos founder's personality, motives, and modus operandi. In other words, praise for Russian (formerly, for Soviet) leaders for defending the holy motherland against greedy capitalist pigs, the pillagers who deserve nothing but to be sent to, or to remain in, Siberian gulags. Vive la raison d'État!