Live Around the Planet: Tuesday February 20th

On February 20, 2018 at 3:52 pm, Emily Maxymiv wrote:

With plans for the D.C. Gun March underway, I find it odd when certain events spark "activism" and others don't. I am by no means a gun enthusiast but find it surprising that even those on the left want to give more power to an obviously inept government. Nikolas Cruz, as you mentioned, was a "known wolf" to local law enforcement and even the FBI which means this massacre could have been preempted. Kate Steinle's murderer was a seven-time felon given special privileges that allowed him to stay in the country and in turn kill an innocent person. Where was the public outcry when Kate was murdered? Why would anyone attend a march to give more control to officials that let these types of crimes occur?

On February 20, 2018 at 3:52 pm, Roy Blair wrote:

The latest impasse in N Ireland politics has been brought by the insistence by Sein Fein on having the Irish language being given equal status with English. Irish is spoken by .02% of the population and there are none of those who don't speak English. Apart from the huge financial costs to the taxpayer, this would have the effect of providing an enormous job-creation scheme for the Nationalist population (Irish is only taught in Catholic schools) Despite this the usual pink and liberal voices are doing what they always do and laying the blame on the intransience of the bigoted loyalists. The less extreme ones blame both sides. Comments?

On February 20, 2018 at 4:03 pm, Michelle Dulak wrote:

Emily Maxymiv,

Exactly. There was a "mass shooting" last year just north of here (Woodville, OR -- three dead, one wounded) that got zero attention outside local press, and precious little there. This also involved someone deported six or seven times, and I think the only reason it got so little attention was that it took place on a pot farm.

On February 20, 2018 at 4:06 pm, Sue Sims wrote:

Since the Florida shooting, the commentariat seems to have divided along party lines, so to speak, with the left calling for gun control and the right attacking the FBI for failing to do anything about the shooter even though they'd been warned. The problems with gun control are obvious, ranging from the second amendment to the impracticality of confiscating hundreds of millions of guns; but isn't there also a problem on the other side? Is it possible that the FBI have so many reports of this nature that it's impossible to act on all of them? I know that here in the UK, MI5 have have so many suspected terrorists to deal with that they can't possibly check and supervise more than a fraction. I'm not making excuses - just wondering.

On February 20, 2018 at 4:20 pm, Holly wrote:

Mark, there is a candidate for governor of Minnesota (of all places!), Philip Parrish, who is attempting to expose the religious liberty shibboleth used by Muslims. He says he separates Islam from the word faith because faith takes belief and Islam requires only submission. Before he will meet with Muslim groups, he requires that they publicly denounce Sharia law and declare that "Islam, Sharia and the Quran are the antithesis of the U.S. Constitution." Your thoughts, please?

On February 20, 2018 at 4:25 pm, Robert Stewart wrote:

Mark, watching any number of governmental management processes, I have concluded that the bureaucrats have almost no interest in actually solving the problem that led to the formation of their agency. In fact, the more controversial the discussion of the problems becomes, the greater the opportunity for politicians to promise utopian solutions, which always involve increasing the government's role. And the bureaucrats are more than willing to provide ammunition for the fear mongers. This really argues for divesting as much as possible from the government. This is a form of positive feedback, which always ends badly.

On February 20, 2018 at 4:31 pm, Laura Rosen Cohen wrote:

Could you share your thoughts about the chatter that PM Hairdo and the imbecilic Liberal government is planning to resurrect the execrable Section 13 of the pathetically and Orwellian named Canadian Human Rights Act.

On February 20, 2018 at 4:37 pm, Guy Anderson wrote:

Would you be kind enough your thoughts on how best to counter the left's attack on family and the individual? Both a macro and micro level would be ideal.

On February 20, 2018 at 4:42 pm, Neal wrote:

My question is "Where did Multi-Culturalism, and it's evil twin sister Political Correctness, come from, and how did it gain so much power?"

Wikipedia says maybe Canada:

"The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration."

I read another person who traces multi-culturalism in Sweden to a Polish born Jew, who used MC in an attempt to tone down the antisemitism that led to the holocaust.

https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2013/01/14/the-jewish-origins-of-multiculturalism-in-sweden/

Meanwhile, it seems to me Multiculturalism is axiomatically inconsistent, in that it requires all cultures to be tolerant of each other, yet some cultures are not tolerant (take skinheads, for instance). Is a skinhead still a skinhead if he is tolerant?

And of course, there is the big question: why would one culture want to weaken itself with obvious drivel anyway? Why would a country actively pursue multiple languages and multiple cultures? Can not those cultures grow in their own garden, without being encouraged to take over Western cultures like an invasive weed?

It makes no sense to me. What's the purpose? Please help me to understand this great mystery of life.

On February 20, 2018 at 4:49 pm, Jackie wrote:

Mark what is your take on the pervasive lack of intellectual humility found throughout political and academic discourse in the West today and do you think it might help explain why modern art, music and literature is mostly unoriginal, tired or a flaming pile of garbage?

On February 20, 2018 at 4:52 pm, Oscar wrote:

Mark,
In your post on empathy or lack thereof you talked about the inability of some people to put themselves in the shoes of those who lived some years, even centuries ago. Do you also advocate empathy towards those who live today but in countries with non-western cultures like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia or the like?

On February 20, 2018 at 4:58 pm, Michael Cavino wrote:

Now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicated 13 Russians for using Facebook to conduct a sophisticated disinformation campaign during the 2016 election, when do you expect him indict the Macedonian content farmers Hilary says costs her the election?

I was given a Styen Club membership as a gift and am enjoying it immensely so far. Great stuff.

Thanks!