The First Amendment stops at the Canadian Border

TRIGGER WARNING:  Bad language at the link.
For John, BLUF:  Politeness has a price.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Canada has human rights commissions.  They are supposed to make sure everyone plays nice and acts like polite Canadians, or emigrates to the United States (e.g., Mark Steyn).

Here is an open letter to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, "Dear Alberta Human Rights Commission".♠  And it goes down hill from there, but in a humorous way.  Well, it does start out slowly…

I'm informed that your Commission (via your proxy) considers the word "crazy" an insult.

… and then quickly picks up speed.

This is not by Mr Ezra Levant, but is about him.  Yes, he is back.  The former publisher of the Canadian Western Standard.

He writes:

Here we go again.

This October I will be prosecuted for one charge of being "publicly discourteous or disrespectful to a Commissioner or Tribunal Chair of the Alberta Human Rights Commission" and two charges that my “public comments regarding the Alberta Human Rights Commission were inappropriate and unbecoming and that such conduct is deserving of sanction.”

Because last year I wrote a newspaper editorial calling Alberta’s human rights commission “crazy.”

Have you ever heard of a journalist being prosecuted for being disrespectful towards a government agency? A journalist in Canada, that is — not in China or Russia.

I remember seeing a video, a while back, in which a Canadian Human Rights Commission lawyer reminded Mr Levant that Canada doesn't have a First Amendment, like that was a plus for Canada.  That European view that the People benefit from the Government protecting them from themselves.  Bonapartism.

The Social Justice Warriors strike again.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  From the Blog Small Dead Animals.

A Rose By Any Other Name

For John, BLUF:  A rose by any other name still has thorns.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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One of the themes on local access TV, City Life, is ISIS vs ISIL.  The thrust of Host George Anthes' remarks are that ISIL is how Democrats say it and ISIS is how Republicans name the Salafist group in Syria and Iraq.  Some would say that ISIL is the US Government preferred term.

The difference between ISIS and ISIL turns on how we translate the longer term the group has previously applied to itself, al-Dawlah al-Islāmīyah fī al-ʻIraq wa-al-Shām.  The difference further turns on what "al-Shām" means, Syria or the Levant.

And, the Insurgent Group is trying to shift to a new name.  They, themselves, describe themselves as IS, or the Islamic State.  But, that is not catching on.  The question is, is this crowd really IS?  If we call it a "state" does that give it standing under international law?

"France is ditching the ‘Islamic State’ name — and replacing it with a label the group hates, Da'esh."  This is discussed in The Washington Post, here.

Da'esh is an Arabic acronym for the name it has been calling itself.

Here is the French Government's Communique.

Regards  —  Cliff

ISIS v ISIL

For John, BLUF:  Getting the terms right helps with communication.

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The media tends to use the acronym ISIS and the White House ISIL.  I am with the White House on this.  Here is an explanation.

ISIS vs. ISIL, they're really the same thing.  "ISIS" should be understood as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham rather than the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, thus encompassing the same geographic space as the acronym "ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

You probably have to be on Social Security to have heard the term Levant used, either Oscar or Geographically.

Regards  —  Cliff

Meanwhile, Back in Asia

For John, BLUF:  Doing Foreign Policy requires multi-tasking.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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While we are focusing on what is happening in the Near East (the Levant),♠ life is also happening in other places.  For example, Chinese Foreign Minister Mr Wang Yi, at a press conference following the China-ASEAN (10+1) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw, has "clarified" China's position on territorial claims in the South China Sea.  The article is headlined:  "Chinese FM clarifies unshakable position over South China Sea issue".  This item is from the Chinese on line presence Xinhuanet♥

Remember, China uses the "Nine-dash Line" to describer what is Chinese territory♦ in the South China Sea, territory also claimed by other nations, such as Viet-nam and the Philippines.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  For example, the apparent genocide by ISIL against the Yazidi People in Iraq.
♥  "Sponsored by the Xinhua News Agency, Xinhuanet is an important central news service-oriented website, an important information organ of the central government, and an important platform for building up China's online international communication capacity."
♦  That would be both Mainland China and also the Government on Taiwan.

First Things First

For John, BLUF:  You need a certain order to have politics.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From The Washington Free Beacon we have "Power Precedes Politics".

The point of the article is that for there to be politics there needs to be a government, a government with a monopoly on violence.  This is not to say there can be no Second Amendment, but it does mean that those with guns need to be sufficiently satisfied with the Government that they are willing to work with it.  Saying a particular situation needs a political resolution does not make it so.  Every situation first needs an agreed governmental structure, one that the vast majority of the People are willing to tolerate.  Even Progressives were willing to tolerate President George W Bush, otherwise there would have been war (at least armed insurgency) rather than politics.

The author of the article is Mr Matthew Continetti, editor in chief of The Washington Free Beacon. Prior to joining the Beacon, he was opinion editor of The Weekly Standard.  He did author The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star (Sentinel, 2009) (Number 705,602 in Amazon's Kindle Store.  Number one is The Fault in Our Stars.).  he lives in McLean, Virginia, which explains a lot, or perhaps nothing.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

War Without End

For John, BLUF:  The enemy of my enemy....  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here is a comment on ISIS, or, more properly, ISIL.

I blame Ms Gertrude Bell.

Regards  —  Cliff