Magic Statistics

That’s a trick question.  The answer is “absolutely nothing”, but an anonymous blogger at Law Is Cool thinks otherwise.  Why would he think that?  (I assume the blogger is male.  My apologies if that’s not the case.)  Let’s try to follow his convoluted train of thought, such as it is.

Yesterday’s announcement at Law Is Cool that no further items about the pending kangaroo court proceedings against Mark Steyn will be posted was prefaced by bizarre allegations that Steyn supporters had hacked the site.

The administrator of this site informed us today that, based on posting patterns, content, and [lack of] use of validated accounts, he has reason to believe that someone is impersonating this site. He has theories as to what end, but to us that really is immaterial.

Earlier this week this site was hacked. Certain plug-ins were uninstalled (spam filters), comment features changed, and passwords altered. We reappropriated the site from the domain server and reset everything.

 Here’s where the Diocese of San Joaquin gets dragged in.

Perhaps this was done in perceived retaliation for problems on other sites supporting Steyn.

The word “problems” links to a page at Surrounded, the blog of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, where is told the sad tale of how Classical Anglican News Net (CaNNet) was destroyed last November by a malicious hacker who wiped out CaNNet's server and off-site backups.  (The story is also told here and here, and I added my two cents’ worth here.)

So, does the anonymous Law Is Cool essayist really believe that someone from the Diocese of San Joaquin hacked his site last week because the diocese supports Mark Steyn and wanted to retaliate against Law Is Cool’s anti-Steyn bluster posturing argumentation?  That seems a stretch, given that Mr Steyn’s name has never been mentioned at Surrounded.

Nevertheless, the anonymous Law Is Cool blogger and like-minded anti-Steyn Muslim law students are intent on shutting up Mark Steyn and others who insist on freely exercising their rights of free speech. San Joaquin is now in their cross hairs.

The Diocese of San Joaquin should hire a lawyer ASAP to defend themselves against a complaint about to be lodged with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

h/t: Free Mark Steyn

Previous related posts:

• CaNNet bloggers: Bloodied but unbowed
• Law Is Cool blogger leaves deceptive and uninformed comment
• These guys are studying to be lawyers?

Calgary Islamic leader Syed Soharwardy (at right) has objected to “disparaging” comments posted at Ezra Levant’s blog.

On the site, Levant refers to Syed Soharwardy as a "radical, Saudi-trained imam," a charge Soharwardy flatly denied.

So, what exactly did Mr Soharwardy object to?  Being called "radical"?  Nope.

"If he has proof … show me about my training," said Sohawardy, founder of the group Muslims Against Terrorism. "Mr. Levant … is spreading lies in the community."

Calling him “radical”?  No problem.  Saying he was trained in Saudi Arabia?  Hold it right there: that’s defamatory.

That’s as if someone wrote about me, “StatGuy is a misanthropic Ottawa-born Stalinist”, and I were to respond, “That’s a damn lie. I was born in Toronto”.

Anyway, when asked about the claim that Soharwardy was trained in Saudi Arabia, Mr Levant admitted that the imam studied in Pakistan and only lectured at a Saudi university.

Hang on to your hats.  Look what Ezra wrote yesterday:

The first [human right complaint] was filed by radical imam in Calgary, Syed Soharwardy, a tin-pot fascist who has publicly called for Canada to be ruled by sharia law. Soharwardy boasts of his studies in Pakistani madrassahs and his religious lectures in Saudi universities, and he's bringing those Saudi and Pakistani values to Canada.

It would appear that the “radical” part, at least, is not controversial.

h/t: Dust My Broom

Previous related posts:

• Ezra Levant faces down the human rights cops
• Canadian Muslims want laws against insults

The collect for today, the First Sunday After Epiphany, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people which call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 12:1-5
The Gospel: St Luke 2:41-53

Artwork: Artist unknown, Christ Among the Doctors, Early 16th century German wood sculpture, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.