Wednesday 30 May 2012

History of Joni Mitchell

I came across this interesting video history of Joni Mitchell.
Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3

Asleep at the Wheel - tribute to Bob Wills

I came across this great musical put together to honour Country & Western hero Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys (we didn't come to stay, we come to play - let it go boys).  You gotta admire the lead character Jason Roberts who plays Wills.



It reminds me of other great musical put together for others stars:
Hank Williams: The Show he Never Gave (with Sneezy Waters)
(And just now I found out the play was put on a few weeks ago in Saskatoon SK . ;{)

Thursday 24 May 2012

Wildrose Election Losses

I read this fairly optimistic blog just (although no worse than many others) before election day - and this afterwards.  I commend him for having the courage to critique his massive failure - and he had some very good observations like about Banff - Cochrane, West Yellowhead and Glenmore.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Cultural differences between Islamists + Westerners

In 2009 Nicholai SENNELS published his book (in danish) "Criminal Muslims: A Psychologist's Experiences from the Copenhagen Municipality" that presented his important observations about the cultural differences in attitudes between Muslim and Danish criminals.   It this english article about his research, Dr. Nancy Kobrin - a psychoanalyst with a clinical specialty in trauma - wrote of her similar findings regarding the personality and behaviour of suicide bombers in "The Banality of Suicide Terrorism". 
Like Sennels, I came away with a similar sense that Western law enforcement and the general public did not understand why there was so much crime in the Muslim population. And why there has been this problem of jail house converts to Islam who then become radicalized through contact with other criminal Muslims during incarceration.
Sennels found: 
  • Turkish immigrants in Denmark have a crime index of 184 (meaning that they are close to double as criminal as the average Danish citizen). 
  • 25-30 percent of all marriages in Turkey are intermarriages. This means that 25-30 percent of all Turks are the result of inbreeding. Surely you already know that inbreeding between cousins doubles the risk of mental and physical handicaps and that Western societies are already struggling hard with the economic consequences of handicapped immigrants. Besides the 100 percent increase in handicaps it also effects the intelligence of the offspring negatively.
  • Opinion poll in Turkey revealed that 70 percent of respondents think that the woman can work only by consent of her husband. 57 percent said considered appearance of women in the public places without headscarves as unacceptable.   
  • In some Provinces of Turkey, 13 percent of the parents and 9.9 percent of students had witnessed an honour killing. … The study also showed that 26.2 percent of the parents and 25.9 percent of the students said they support such killings.
  • Dr. Sennels provides a useful summary of the differences he found in working with Muslim “youth” by focusing on differences in world view and in self-perception in 5 area's - Anger, Locus of Control,  Self-Reflection vs. Consequence,  Muslim Identity and Honor.
  • Anger -   In the west,  we learn early that anger isn’t "cool"  however, the opposite is the case with Muslims, who see our insistence on remaining calm as weakness not wisdom.
  • Control - in general westerners assume responsiblity for the lives we create.  Nothing like that exists for Muslims. For them, obedience and submission are primary. If the environment does not “adapt” to them, then the feelings of resentment and being owed something predominate.   Only for Muslim immigrants this is not a ‘stage’ of life, it’s a permanent condition.
  • Self-Reflection vs. Consequence - Western attempt to see Muslims as “just like us” but will not see this attitude waiting for gratitude, reciprocation, or cooperation. Respect flows only one way in Islam -  toward the Muslim.  
  • Muslim Identity -  Third-generation Danish-Somalis, Turks, Pakistanis, Iraqis, etc., did not view themselves as Danish. They were Muslims. Assimilation into the host country does not work and all the best intentions in the world won’t change that. 
  • “Honor” - Many young Muslims become assailants. This is not just because of the Muslim cultural acceptance of aggression, but also because the Muslim honor mentality makes them into fragile, insecure men. Instead of being flexible and humorous they become stiff and develop fragile, glass-like, narcissistic personalities.
  • Masculine identity -  Dr. Sennels notes that Western culture and Islam treat the raising of children (boys, anyway) in diametrically opposed ways: in the West, we keep young children on a short leash, gradually lengthening it as the child proves his ability to handle responsibility and to meet guidelines. Our goal is a mature adult who can self-motivate and create a life for himself.    Muslims have inverted this process - especially for boys. They have lots of freedom in their early lives and as they get older more and more cultural/religious restrictions and expectations appear to support the family structure. By the time they are 20 years old, their parents often have already chosen their future wives or husbands.
These are serious issues that can not be swept under the rug.

Monday 21 May 2012

Ron Paul in MN - May 18/12

Very good speech by Ron Paul in Minnesota on May 18.

Interesting points:
- Story about cutting ExIm Bank entitlements in Reagan Era when 100 congressmen "flipped" their vote overnight. Vote not "For Sale" just "For Rent".
- his fascination with a Gold Standard he relates to the "hidden" taxation of inflation due to allowing the Fed to manage Money Supply.
- Limited Government means Freedom to Person and your income.
- Will know when drink Raw Milk and Hemp Rope is allowed.



h/t www.backlash.com

Saturday 19 May 2012

Unbearable Heaviness of Cuba

To all the tourists who go to Cuba for a holiday - and come back saying that no one seems mistreated - this is for you.

PDF

Fox News Ticker

Apture