Friday, February 11, 2005
"Freedom of Speech" -- pfui
sedition in suburbia
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
This isn’t about this feller’s “right to freedom of speech,” though this display seems to be covered by what the SCOTUS says is included under the term “speech.” If his neighbors, or passing strangers, tear it down, it is not abridging his “free speech,” it’s petty vandalism. His neighbors aren’t Congress. No one is putting him in jail for what he said—no legal action is being sought. Congress and the state legislature have nothing to say about it.
There is, however, a concept known as “fighting words.”
There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or “fighting” words — those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality. **
Though, in 1999, the Court had narrowed its perception to the question of whether the words used would “reasonably incite the average person to retaliate.” Many, many moons could pass while attempting to define “the average person.” The “average person” at Camp Pendleton? Or on Telegraph Avenue?
So, from where I sit, ol’ Pearcy the Noose Maker is within his rights to put up his little display. And his neighbors are within their rights to have nightly parties where they make an effigy of Pearcy, hang him, draw and quarter him, slather him with mayonnaise, set him on fire, and roast marshmallows over his [symbolic] carcass. They would also be well within their rights to post large signs on their properties stating their opinions that their dear neighbor, Pearcy, is a seditious whack job, hates puppies and kittens, secretly drives an SUV, eats rare steaks when out of town, likes to smell his own butt, is a bad tipper, has masculine endowments of questionable size or usefulness, loves to wear a neck tie, likes animals a little too much, thinks Raiders fans are stupid, is a card-carrying member of The Savage Nation, considers his own nose a snack dispenser, is of suspicious parentage, is likely in favor of all women wearing burkas, and may, indeed, have a rich fantasy life involving John Kerry, Nanci Pelosi, feather dusters, barbed wire, whipped yoghurt, and a duck.
Hey, duu-uuu-uuude—it’s Freedom of Speech, right?
**Amusingly enough, the “fighting words” about which that particular decision was written were, “You are a God damned racketeer” and “a damned fascist.” Commence to sniggering at how “far” we’ve come…
More here
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
The Council Has Spoken - 1.28
This week’s winners are:
A Childlike Fantasy
by Wallo World, and
Zarqawi’s War On Democracy
by Cavalier’s Guardian WatchBlog
Full results of the vote are over at The Watcher’s, along with this week’s entries! Lots of good reading: Go See . . .
Spambots: byte hot bits and die!! [Thanx, Watcher!]
Didja Know...
Didja know that stripping wall paper is a pain inneass?
and that a really wet sponge works better than the dang steamer thingie?
The Council Has Spoken - 2.4
2.4
Challenger - A Flight Surgeon Remembers by Dr. Sanity and,
Full results of the vote are over at The Watcher’s, and the week’s entries are too!
Spambots: byte hot bits and die!! [Thanx, Watcher!]
On the Occasion of the SOTU
Dear George,
I’m sorry I missed watching your SOTU Address last night; I was outside cleaning up poop. I also fixed a fence yesterday, cleaned a coupla toilets, hauled some wood, bucked some hay and a 50# bag of grain, vacuumed, swept and washed my floors [with a hot-water rag on my knees] I’m sorry doing all those things prevented me from seeing you tell Americans, and the world, that there are jobs that “Americans won’t do.” Boy—do I feel like an absolute sucker, now!
And to think—I chose this life that has these chores. I didn’t realize that, as an American, it was beneath me to muck out stalls, clean toilets, make beds and wash floors. Wow—I’d better quit learning how to build stuff, too, cuz I guess using a Skilsaw, hammer and nails martillo y clavos is also beneath me.
What a dunderhead I’ve been! Not to mention my Dad and Mom. Daddy put up power poles for 33¢ an hour during the Depression despite his college education. And Mom, with her college education and finishing school skills, pulled up wire out of the fields after WWII, when metal was scarce, to create pens for her platinum fox ranch. I guess we’re a whole family of dupes and dopes, eh?
If we’d only realized that Americans aren’t supposed to do those difficult and/or nasty jobs—that we’re supposed to let those little brown people who refuse to obey the laws of our country do that work!
Wow—a whole new two tiered society! What an idea. Wait… I’m suddenly struck with a thought; maybe there are more than two tiers... Dang… Wish I had more time to think about that but I’ve gotta go rent the steamer to strip some wallpaper, rip up some carpeting, re-do those floors and re-tile a bathroom.
I guess being a dupe is habit-forming…
----
AND MORE—response to comment:
Helley—check your taxes. Somewhere in that $30 billion that is spent on illegal immigrants ever year is some o’ your money. [Spanish-speaking classrooms, health care, bi-lingual signs/ballots, jails, police, not to mention that we’re hemoraging cash directly into the Mexican economy [wages mailed home] without any return.]
I completely disagree that unwillingness to do menial work is a consequence of the “ownership society.” I think willingness to do what needs to be done—no matter how distasteful —is the backbone of an “ownership society.” And of a Free Society.
The boss hasta be able to do any job that she hires out—better than those she hires. [with the exception of specialized things like nuclear physics and taxes...] That is the essence of the American Dream: 1] build a better mousetrap, 2] make them in your garage until you can rent a bigger space and hire someone else, 5] become one of the Fortune 500. Or work for that guy emptying mousetraps [eww] until you work your way up to plant manager.
Disdaining hard, icky work as being beneath one is the prime demonstration of an effete lack of character [so John Kerry] that leaves one at the mercy of the less educated/less intelligent but more willing. [Think Howard Roark.]
“I don’t do windows,” is the visceral opposite of what our Armed Forces are doing right now, and what The Yanks did in WWII, etc. We are not too good to wade in and get our hands dirty doing what needs doing. The French were—repeatedly. [see the consequences of “let them eat cake,” the logical end of “I don’t do windows."]
If we become a culture where it is acceptable to refuse to do our own dirty work, or to start at the bottom and work upwards, we will become a culture that is unwilling to do the dirty, nasty work of fighting socialism / facism / terrorism. And we will soon be a dead culture; taken over by those willing to get their hands dirty.
Image blatantly stolen from Helen Wells
[*click* image to see more]
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Civilized Behavior Un-grasped
31 January 2005 Police at the scene of one the Baghdad blasts said the bomber appeared to have Down’s syndrome.
ThanQ! Attack Machine
Jersey City Terror Murders Update
these people animals beings are seriously, creepily nutz...
From Jihad Watch:
A. Both adults, Hossam and Amal, had a horizontal slit across the throat. Below the slit, on the left, right and middle of the throat were three holes, big enough so that one could place a finger in each hole. According to the eyewitness, it was as if the assailant(s) took a knife and turned it repeatedly in a circular fashion, as if to screw holes into the victims’ necks.
B. The two young girls, Sylvia (15) and Monica (8), also had a horizontal slits in their throats, along with two holes bored below the slits, one on the right and one on the left sides of their necks. The holes were similar to those on their parents’ necks.
C. The eyewitness said although the bodies of the victims were all covered, he was able to see the arms of the little girl Monica. Although the tattoo of the cross inside Monica’s wrist was not defaced, he saw that her wrists were cut. He was not able to see the wrists of the other victims to see if the crosses on their wrists were defaced.
D. Though the family wants to reserve judgment until the results of the case are released, they did say that the way the four family members were bound and gagged and the way their throats were slit with holes carved is similar to executions that are shown on al-Jazeera. The American public is not aware of this because the details of the executions are not often described in news accounts. [emph mine -C]
Amal Garas’s father said that (contrary to many news reports and CAIR’s press release) none of the family’s jewelry was taken, and that Amal owned some quite expensive pieces that were not touched. At the time of her murder, Amal was wearing a ring worth $3,500 that was not taken.
There is more about Coptic Clergy in NJ compromised by the Egyptian government, Coptic girls kidnapped and married off to Muslim men, the Egyptian government pressuring police and prosecutor’s offices to make this case go away... Freaky.
On the website where Hossam Armanious was threatened are posted photos, addresses and other details about “filthy dogs, cursers of Muhammad” Christians.
Barsomyat.com features not only photographs of the targeted Christians, but also attempts to track down their addresses. A post about a Christian man whose computer was apparently hacked to obtain his photograph includes the man’s PalTalk name, his real name, and the city where he resides in Lebanon.
Like this:
One poster at barsomyat.com placed a photo of a Christian target between cartoon characters with mallets. [photo removed]
Civilized, eh? Yes that is Itchy and Scratchy. Civilized and mature.
oh, before I forget;
"May all their women learn to drive and run over them with the Mercedes wheels of Freedom before disappearing into the sunset. May they all take solace in Madonna videos and one another before dying alone, by their own hands. May they all be wrapped in pigskin blankets when they meet Muhammad, the cursed filthy dog. May Allah chew them up and poop them into Hell."
Will Martyr Self for "Good" Drivers License Picture!
tough while wearing a balaklava...
The words are Midnight Mission
Those words: Ministry of Defense and Way to Eternal Life [or Martyr]
Stuff from the Gaza Strip? Found in Fallujah? Nope.
Found in a roadside rest stop on Highway 285 in Texas.
No goose bumps here... You?
Don’t forget: Minuteman Project
ThanQ! Digger
Red Letter Day!
Little Blue Duck [aka Arrow] laid her first egg today!
[pics would have followed but I’m having a “clumsy day”...]
In addition, I b’lieve it must be Spring—it’s 70° at 8:30 am. And the wind is blowing. *achoo*
Porch-blogging returns! Then on to Grass-Mowing! [after lawn-mower belt changing...] *achoo!*
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{/if}
