Freedom of Speech for the Rich and Influential

In the face of mounting public awareness and anger, the Canadian Human Rights Commission has decided not to prosecute Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine for publishing an article about Islam.

The downside is that this might remove some of the pressure to abolish the CHRC in its entirety, and those fascists will continue to oppress everyone that can't afford teams of lawyers.

The BC Human Rights Tribunal on the other hand did hold a show trial but has yet to pronounce guilt or innocence. Another bunch of leeches on society, those guys.

Via Ezra Levant.

Undermining Democracy Through Bureaucracy

Canadian "human rights" bureaucracies are being used/abused by Islamic groups to suppress political speech by the press.

Maclean's magazine is being investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission for publishing an article by Mark Steyn. The CHRC maintains that Canadians have no freedom of speech.

The editor(?) of the Western Standard, Ezra Levant, is being investigated by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for republishing the completely inoffensive (to anyone who isn't completely deranged) Danish cartoons that caused rioting and calls for beheadings around the world. Levant has posted a very eloquent if poorly formatted response.

It's a shame that we are so far over the bump in the Laffer curve that reducing taxes isn't likely to prevent the government from funding crap like this. Also, it's impressive that all you have to do to get something named after you is present it to Dick Cheney!

The Laffer-curve concept is central to supply side economics, and the term was reportedly coined by Jude Wanniski (a writer for The Wall Street Journal) after a 1974 afternoon meeting between Laffer, Wanniski, Dick Cheney, and his deputy press secretary Grace-Marie Arnett (Wanninski, 2005; Laffer, 2004). In this meeting, Laffer reportedly sketched the curve on a napkin to illustrate the concept, which immediately caught the imaginations of those present. Laffer himself professes no recollection of this napkin, but writes, "I used the so-called Laffer Curve all the time in my classes and with anyone else who would listen to me" (Laffer, 2004). Laffer also does not claim to have invented the concept, attributing it to 14th century Islamic scholar Ibn Khaldun and, more recently, to John Maynard Keynes.

The Effect of Islam on Birthrate

Update: Per the comments on this post, this is almost certainly a load of crap. At the very least it requires cherry picking the geographical region and then choosing the population estimates that best suit your purpose. Steyn is totally off my Christmas card list.

In response to France's cheering about its superior birthrate, Mark Steyn claims a pretty shocking correlation between the % of the population that is Muslim and the birthrate in European countries.

Take France and its neighbors and rank them in order of healthiest fertility rates (2005 official Eurostat figures):

1) France
2) Netherlands
3) Belgium
4) Switzerland
5) Austria
6) Germany
7) Italy
8) Spain

Now rank them in order of highest proportion of Muslims (no central source, but compiled from national data, European Muslim groups, UN and State Dept figures):

1) France
2) Netherlands
3) Belgium
4) Switzerland
5) Austria
6) Germany
7) Italy
8) Spain

I am suddenly reminded of the talk of genocidal wars across Europe in the coming years.

World Sheep News by Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn offers thoughts on anti-gay sheep drugs and the fact you can purchase a sheep for ritual sacrifice in Belgium, but not transport it in the trunk of your car.

Many of us can sympathize. The poor old sheep gets it coming and going. If he's going to end up bleeding to death while turned toward Mecca, he ought at least be able to choose his orientation in the runup to it. Might as well be hung for a ram as for a ewe. Surely a sheep should be able to celebrate his own sexuality without a lot of crazed ovine eugenicists strapping him to a gurney and shooting him the hetero-juice.

[...]

Nobody in Scotland seems to be spending much time imagining, say, nuclear technology in the hands of Iran, but in Glasgow they're up in arms about the mullahs getting sheep-straightening technology. If President Bush is looking for a casus belli against Tehran, the gay-ram angle may be the best shot at bringing the EU on board. "E U," by the way, is the abbreviation for "European Union" and not what a gay ram says in distaste when the lady sheep come strolling by en route to the dip.

Illustrious Seniors Group

Mark Steyn mocks the ISG and the UN.

Via Powerline.

The Coming Conflict in Europe

Taking issue with Mark Steyn's belief that Europe will eventually become a Muslim nation, Ralph Peters of the New York Post says that this is a stupid idea, because, wait for it... eventually Europe will find itself another Hitler and go on a killing rampage until the continent is devoid of Muslims.

(Peters is not arguing in favor of this outcome, but thinks it is inevitable.)

Steyn doesn't discount the possibility of another Hitler, but he thinks it won't make any difference due to the lopsided birth rates.

I tend to think that Steyn has the stronger side in this debate, but either way this sure is a depressing view of the future.