Git Off Our Lawn, Eh?

[tealin]

In lieu of actual content:

Canada Denies Entry to Funeral Picketers

I am actually getting to like this government.

Comments

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Lolol. I love my country. <3

I find it amusing that they have to come from the States to picket... come on, don't we have any fundamentalist crazies north of the border? Give us somethin' ta aim at here.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

According to one of the commenters on the CBC story, Stockwell Day said he was keeping them out "for their own safety." I tried finding that quoted in an article somewhere but couldn't so I don't know how true it is, but it's delightful.

And they're Conservatives. Surely there is a lesson to be learned here.

[anathelen.livejournal.com]

I... I think I'm in love with Canada.

[beckychan.livejournal.com]

Go Canada. It sounds like a nicer and nicer place every day.

[amarafox.livejournal.com]

Except a few of them apparently got through.

I really don't like Stockwell Day, but he did the right thing. Now I won't be tempted to key his car for a few days ;) (I live in the same town as him, and no, i have never keyed his car, I just think about it)

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised. According to what I've read online about this bunch of lunatics, their leader's been informed that if he shows his nose north of the border, he'll be liable to arrest for "hate speech."

On the one hand, I am a firm believer in the US Constitution's Bill of Rights and its absolute guarantee of free speech for all...on the other hand, this lunatic and his cult sorely tempt me to temporarily forget my principles. They've been saying they're going to picket China at the Beijing Olympics. I "hae me doots" they'll go there...the Chinese are rather hard-nosed about that sort of thing even now, and the laogai is no joke.

Hmmmm...I wonder if I could get them to picket in Seoul, South Korea? Have them tangling with the Seoul riot police...ahhh, that would be pure pleasure to watch.

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

Fred Phelps is the worst of the bunch. This article gives you an in-depth look at his psychosis and the effects on his family.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/michael_haggerty/expose3.htm

And then to cleanse your palete, an ancedote: A friend of mine actually lived in Topeka for a while so he saw Phelps pretty regularly. He says Phelps is very femminine in manner and speech, so he's probably a repressed gay man.

Also, Fred Phelps vs Micheal Moore

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Ah! You might like this blog entry then. I did! http://xiphias.livejournal.com/195619.html

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

That is a very good entry. I also like the link further on: http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2004/07/the_abominable_.html

[fani.livejournal.com]

...What ...do these people not know that the victim's family is grieving??? Some respect and decency is in order!!!

AIE D:!!!

(on the other hand GO CANADA GO!)

[zfiledh.livejournal.com]

I've often dreamed of moving to your country. Now this makes my resolve harden!

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

Good. Somebody needs to bitchslap those people.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I think only the US border agents are legally entitled to deliver a good bitchslap. Canadians are restricted to shaking a stern finger.

Re: twirlynoodle

[(Anonymous)]

Ugh, too bad. Either way, Go Canada!!!

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a job for... the Patriot Guard Riders (http://www.patriotguard.org/)!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

That is surprisingly awesome. To be honest I was expecting some sort of northern border militia to stop those pesky Canadians sneaking into the US and stealing our jobs. Good for them.

[ubiquitouspitt.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is sensible. The stopping it. Not the 'it'.

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

I am not sure what to think. While I disagree with the loonies from the church, I TOTALLY disagree with the concept of a Human Rights Commission telling people what they can and can't say about other people.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

It's not the Human Rights Commission shutting them up, it's the government of a sovereign country refusing them passage across the border to cause trouble at a young man's funeral. They can shout what they like from the other side of the dotted line.

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

I know it is not the HRC shutting them up. I was referring to the concept of free speech in Canada vs. the US. In Canada if you say something factually accurate you can be taken before the HRC for a hate crime of sorts (see Mark Steyn and the National Post/McLeans).

Free Speech is also putting up with the speech of someone you dislike/disagree with (nutjobs from Kansas).

Butting in...

[(Anonymous)]

...And sorry about that, but I just felt like putting my two cents on this - the freedom of speech thing. I'm all for that (and I'm also aware that I'm making people cringe in anticipation waiting for the "but") but (see? you were right!) it's a double-edged concept.

Freedom of speech should perhaps be absolute and complete - but it would also mean that anyone can call you anything with or without reason or motive, including insulting you on basis of religion, ethnicity, origin, beliefs, etc. I'm not sure what the legislation in the United States is in regard to that, but I'm pretty sure that if some editorialist insulted (for instance) Barack Obama in their newspaper and called him a nigger (sorry about the 'n' word) he would be (I hope) perfectly within his right to sue this person.

I don't know who Pat Martin is (being French and all that) but he has a remarkably clear explanation of freedom, "Your freedom to swing your arm in the air ends when it touches the end of my nose". It applies to freedom of speech as well. In France there's a law against public slander or libel: basically, it's an offence to "flame" someone publicly (in writing). You can say or publish anything you want, as long as it's not hurtful to a person or a group (religious, ethnic, etc.) What Pastor Phelps was doing outside the church in the Moore video would get him arrested in France for "incitement to hatred" towards homosexuals.

Does anyone know whether the anti-sodomy law is enforced in all of the 20 concerned states? Because the law in France stating homosexuality as an indecent assault was repealed in 1982, but I've done a little research and I found no mention of somebody having actually been arrested and tried for that since 1945 (as France was occupied by the Nazis from 1940 to 1945, gay people were deported as well as the Jews, Gypsies, political opponents and many others).

Sorry for the history "lesson", I don't want to sound preachy, and offensive even less. But if Internet is good for one thing, it's for people from different cultures, countries and everything to confront their ideas and talk about them. (Insert another word for 'sorry' - I'm running out) for the Off-Topicness :)

Love,
Belphegor :o]

Hello!

[(Anonymous)]

With the danger of sounding like a disillusioned fangirl I must say the following:

YOU ARE AWESOME!! >O< ^__________^ >O< OMIGOODNESS I LOVE YOUR ARTWORK SO MUCH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I hope you are not afraid of capital lettering.

You really are one of my favorite artists on the internet. Your style is amazing and the quality of your work is as good, in my opinion, as any Disney artist. Perhaps better! I muchly enjoy reading your LiveJournal entries and, though you don't update as much as I would like on your HP HQ website (cough), I still frequent its pages quite often. Thank you for sharing your amazing-ness with us.

Also, thank you for abstaining from an improper overdose of foul language in your blog entries. It would ruin the artwork.

I have a question for you: have you ever thought of making a webcomic? Your artistic talent and comic wit would lend themselves well to that medium. Just wondering ^__^

I should be in bed, but I can't resist a quick midnight stroll through your artwork...

Re: Hello!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Hi! Um, thanks! But ... isn't this more of an email thing? You can find it in my userinfo. I'll reply there. :)

Re: Hello!

[(Anonymous)]

OK. Email is on its way! Sorry if it was a non-blog kind of message. I don't comment in blogs often, if at all. My internet etiquette is a little lacking, methinks ^___^

[octaveleap.livejournal.com]

I have an extremely strong sense of pity for the members of the Westboro Baptist Church. It must be extremely painful to live your whole life being raised to hate that strongly. The fact that they hate so much, and that they say they want people to die and be tortured, and that they thing God(!) can hate the way they do, must feel like... I don't know... must feel like having poison in your blood. I wish I could rescue all the children that they're raising.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

You are a much better person than I am.

[christophem.livejournal.com]

HA. I HAVE CANADIAN PRIDE.

(In truth, I'm living in Europe pretending that two years in Canada is enough to make me more Canadian than American. It's in my blood, but nobody else has to know it)