Magic Statistics

The headline of this post refers to the results of a poll of Britons' knowledge of America, but I think the problem extends far beyond Great Britain.   Uninformed anti-Americanism pervades Europe and Canada.

A poll of nearly 2,000 Britons by YouGov/PHI found that 70 per cent of respondents incorrectly said it was true that the US had done a worse job than the European Union in reducing carbon emissions since 2000. More than 50 per cent presumed that polygamy was legal in the US, when it is illegal in all 50 states.
. . .
The survey showed that a majority agreed with the false statement that since the Second World War the US had more often sided with non-Muslims when they had come into conflict with Muslims. In fact in 11 out of 12 major conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslims and secular forces, or Arabs and non-Arabs, the US has sided with the former group. Those conflicts included Turkey and Greece, Bosnia and Yugoslavia, and and Kosovo and Yugoslavia.

The poll, commissioned by a new lobby group, America In The World, indicates that anti-American sentiment in Britain is largely based on erroneous conceptions and mistaken beliefs about the United States.

You can sign AITW’s declaration here.

"Ours is a better world because of America. The world is safer because of the American soldier. The world is wealthier because of American enterprise. The world is healthier because of American technology. No nation is perfect, but imagine the world without America. I reject anti-Americanism. I declare myself a friend of the United States of America."

Amen to that!

British Conservative Party leader David Cameron is to be the guest of honour at America In The World’s official launch in London in October.

h/t: Andrew Bolt

Previous related post: Anti-Americanism: NDP’s guiding principle

That query is posed in today’s Toronto Star by Angelo Persichilli, political editor of Corriere Canadese and a man not afraid of being branded a racist for asking common-sense questions about a glaring social problem.

"That's dynamite, don't touch it!" a politician once told me when I expressed the desire to write about Caledonia and the natives. I agree, it was and still is dynamite, but is this a valid reason not to talk about it?

I don't think so. There are pre-Confederation treaties signed but never respected, and $12 billion a year from Ottawa to assist the aboriginals. But still Canada's natives are dying in their reserves. Can we talk about it?
. .
There are 1.2 million aboriginals in Canada. Some 700,000 of them live on reserves in conditions similar to those of Third World countries despite massive federal government spending. Alcoholism is widespread and the suicide rate among young natives is three times higher than in the rest of the population.

Because aboriginal leaders refuse to account for the vast sums of taxpayer money that government hands over every year, and our politicians refuse to insist on such an accounting, the real problems cannot be addressed.  Instead, attention is focused on sensational side issues.

Instead of debating how we have created a black hole into which billions are funnelled with minimal accountability and why human rights and legal processes are suspended, we talk about a frustrated Mohawk, Shawn Brant, who is taking the law into his hands, and OPP Commissioner Fantino, who has the almost impossible mandate to enforce a rule of law that, regarding native issues, has taken a leave of absence.

Clearly, aboriginal Canadians are not well served by their leaders or the federal government.  Despite annual expenditures of over $10,000 for every aboriginal person, the present system isn’t working.  Before it can be fixed, we need to know what happens to all that money so the same mistakes aren’t repeated.  Or is it racist to ask for an accounting?

h/t: Bourque

Previous related posts:

• Aboriginal protests are our own fault
• Promoting aboriginal self-reliance
• Canadian reserves: Candidates for international aid

The collect for today, the 13th Sunday after Trinity, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 3:16-22
The Gospel: St Luke 10:23-37

Artwork: Rembrandt, The Good Samaritan, 1630. Oil panel, Wallace Collection, London.

Muslims in Kwara state, Nigeria, have been attacking Christians since last May when the leader of an Islamist group died of injuries suffered in a car accident in 2006.

At least three Christians have died and several others have been injured in attacks with machetes and other weapons since June, clergymen said. They said the attacks began after the death in May of Dr. Ali Olukade, head of a local group of Islamists called Tibliq, possibly patterned after the worldwide Tablighi Jamaat missionary movement.

The followers of Dr Olukade blame his accident on prayers of Christians upset after Muslim protests disrupted a 2004 evangelistic campaign.

When the local Tibliq leader was injured in the car crash in 2006, Rev. [Cornelius] Fawenu [secretary of the Kwara chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria] said, “The members of his Muslim sect went on rampage, demonstrating against America and the state of Israel, over claims that it was the prayers of Christians over the aborting of the gospel event of 2004 that caused their leader to be involved in an auto crash. Dr. Olukade, the Muslim sect’s leader, died in May 2008, and since then Muslim fanatics have embarked in serial killings and attacks on Christians in the city.”

The dead Christians were attacked as they went to or returned from evening worship services.

Ironically, the Kwara State Government website carries the slogan “The Place of Harmony”.  They need to do more work on that, apparently.

Previous related posts:

• Muslims riot after Christian woman rejects Muslim suitor
• Muslims riot in northern Nigeria over alleged blasphemy

A resident of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, has made the disconcerting discovery that someone claiming to be a Nigerian priest placed an ad in a local newspaper offering her house for rent for $400 per month plus utilities.  Linda Lane’s house is listed for sale at mls.ca, but she’s never heard of the man who identifies himself as The Rev Kelvin King.

Liverpool resident, Linda Lane was shocked to discover a person trying to rent her home on Brookdale Crescent through an advertisement in the Queens County Advance was posing as the actual homeowner.

“A girl I work with was looking for an apartment, so she emailed this gentlemen,” through the contact provided in the advertisement, said Lane. “He emailed her back. He just talked about the house and that he’s a missionary in Africa.”

In the letter Rev. Kelvin King requests $400 as a damage deposit and would like someone to move in right away because he is on a missionary call in Africa. He wants the money transferred through Western Union to Nigeria, Africa. The secret question for the transfer is 'Who do you believe in?' The answer is God. At that point, he promises to send the keys to the apartment.

Queens County Advance editor Mark Roberts e-mailed Rev King and inquired about the house/apartment for rent.  The reverend, who claimed to be in Africa, had this to say.

Thanks for your interest in my property. I am Rev. Kelvin King and i own the property you seek.I am on a missionary call to West Africa and thats why am looking for a responsible person that can take a very good care of it.I am not in particular about the money,all I need is a God fearing person that will see my property as his or her own.

He gave his address as St Peter Catholic Church, Lagos, Nigeria.  Asked if he had ever served in a local church, the “reverend” claimed he had ministered “briefly” at St Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church, Liverpool.  The reporter later spoke with parish priest Father Brian Murphy, who contradicted that claim.

I've always been convinced that recycling is far more trouble than it's worth.

Putting out the rubbish used to be a straightforward task.

But since the advent of endless council edicts and different coloured bins and boxes, it has became ever more complicated.

So much so that recycling now puts as much strain on the brain as the game of Sudoku, research has revealed.

In the first study of its kind, volunteers rated the sorting of household waste as challenging as solving a complicated puzzle.
. . .
Recycling also takes up valuable time, with the researchers estimating that the average family spends the equivalent of a week a year sorting, preparing, rinsing and putting out their waste.

Not only is recycling a scam, it wastes time and energy and causes stress.

Previous related post: “Recycled” materials routinely dumped in landfills

The candidate’s slogan was probably, “Vote for me and nobody gets hurt”.

Last April, supporters of Mohammad Abdul Sattar, Muslim candidate in Punjab province, Pakistan, opened fire on a group of Christians who had refused to vote for him, killing Javed Masih.  Local Christians claim the candidate was among the shooters.

Four months later, widow Zenat Javed still awaits justice.  Police have still not arrested anyone.

"Abdul Sattar came to Christian Village on April 10th, 2008, with his gang and opened fire on Christians who didn’t vote for him in the Joint Election System," under which Muslims support Christians and Christians back Muslim politicians, said rights group Christian Youth Fellowship-Pakistan CYF.

"Javed Masih died on spot by firing, while [fellow Christian] Irshaad Masih was seriously injured,” the group said in a statement to BosNewsLife.

Candidate Sattar ran under the banner of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which promises protections for the country’s Christian minority.  For this candidate, apparently, the promise applies only if they vote the right way.

Previous related posts:

• Pakistani Christian fired after Muslims threaten employer
• Benazir Bhutto calls for protection of Christians

Taxi driver and political nutcase David Boyd is running for mayor of Halifax on a platform of transforming the Nova Scotia capital into "Vegas of the East".

"It's high time this city grew up and realized we are port city", he says.  Some would see that as "It's high time this city grew up and realized we are cesspool of immorality".

A would-be candidate for mayor of Halifax aims to make Nova Scotia's capital the Sin City of the East - putting the sin in Bedford Basin, the city's inner harbour.

David Boyd is launching his campaign for mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality with a party platform, literally.

Boyd, a Halifax cab driver, computer technician and tow truck driver who has also advocated man-on-android love, is betting on more casinos, strip clubs and Las Vegas-style nightlife in the city.

Halifax already has one waterfront casino, and it's had to reduce hours of operation and make a round of staff cutbacks. The city also has only one adult entertainment bar - located in a strip mall across the harbour in Dartmouth.

But Boyd thinks the city needs at least one more strip club, preferably in Halifax, and more places to play poker.

Mr Boyd has a track record of political failure.  He was trounced in each of his three bids for a city council seat and his 2004 campaign for the Conservative Party nomination in Dartmouth was derailed when he advocated changing marriage laws to allow unions between humans and androids.

The mayoral election will be held on 18 October.  Two serious candidates have entered the race thus far: incumbent Peter Kelly and City Councillor Sheila Fougere.

h/t: Sobering Thoughts

Previous related posts:

• Lots of Canucks are moving to Halifax
• Atlantic Canada cities predominate in quality of life survey

Douglas Farrow’s article “Kangaroo Canada”, published in the August / September issue of First Things, offers a brief but incisive reflection on the human rights complaints against Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn, Stephen Boisson, and Catholic Insight.

The full online text is behind a subscriber wall, but I’ve purchased a paper copy and here reproduce the concluding paragraphs, in which Farrow broaches the bigger question of why the authoritarian “human rights” agenda has garnered such widespread allegiance in contemporary Western societies.

[A] more important question is how the whole idea of rights has been transformed into a cover for monstrosities like the HRCs—for an intellectual, moral, and juridical violence that has turned rights into the enemy, rather than the friend, of basic human freedoms.  That question has an answer too long to attempt here.  Even to raise it, however, is to bump up against a curious fact: The mainstream media, for the most part, has turned a blind eye to this violence, even where it threatens (as in the Levant and Steyn cases) the freedom of the press.

The explanation for that, I think, lies in the myth that the concept of human rights is entirely a modern invention—and an invention that defines the morality of our own secular age.  The thought that the very foundations of our morality should prove so flimsy is more than we can bear.  Are we not the great generation of rights?  The truth is, of course, that authentic human rights discourse belongs to a tradition that the West has now largely discarded, and that what passes for that discourse today is something else.

The threat that this something else poses can scarcely be overestimated.  Those in Canada who think that repealing Section 13 will solve the problem are mistaken (although that would be a good first step); likewise those in America who think it will be enough if the creation of HRCs, which some states are considering, is prevented.  A society with a bad conscience, we may be sure, will always find ways to police speech and pursue thought crimes.

And we do have a bad conscience.  Not merely because we have broken with the past but because we have committed ourselves to the obvious absurdity of claiming that pluralism is our only norm, multiculturalism our only cultural foundation, diversity our only basis for unity, and tolerance our highest virtue.

Tolerance the highest virtue.  That goes a long way to account for the spectacle of intolerance that Canada has been offering to the world.

Farrow’s rumination has clear affinities with Binky’s recent elfnote that we are all seeking a kingdom, and that HRC people seek to establish an earthly utopian kingdom.  But would that utopia be a land of liberty or tyranny?  Dr Farrow’s line of argument implies the latter.  Binks and I and many other Canadians would agree.

Douglas Farrow is associate professor of Christian Thought at McGill University and author of several books, including Ascension and Ecclesia and Nation of Bastards.

Previous related posts:

• National Post columnist caught in blunder
• Neuhaus: Christianity banished from Canadian public life
• Welcome To C-38istan

The new Sharia-compliant MasterCard is less than meets the eye.

The UK's first sharia-compliant prepaid MasterCard has been launched in London - dubbed the "Islamic financial centre of Europe".

The Cordoba Gold MasterCard does not charge or receive interest as this is in direct conflict with sharia Law. The company also donates at least 10% of its profits to registered charities in the UK and abroad.

I’d always thought of MasterCard as a credit card, but the Cordoba Gold proves I was wrong.  Despite being branded MasterCard, the card involves no credit.  It’s “prepaid”, i.e., users have to deposit money into a Cordoba Gold account before they can use it to spend a dime.  The card can be used to pay for services at shops or to withdraw prepaid funds from a bank machine.  It’s just a glorified debit card.

The propaganda at the card’s website is hilarious.  From the FAQ page:

1.3 Do you give or receive interest?
No. Cordoba Gold does not and will not charge or receive interest as this is in direct conflict with Sharia Law.

Of course, the company charges the card user no interest for the blindingly obvious reason that no credit is extended.  The company’s risk of financial loss from customer default is precisely zero.  The customer cannot use the card before he or she makes a payment up front, and can never spend more than the amount previously deposited on account.

2.1 What makes the Cordoba Gold prepaid MasterCard different from a Credit Card?
When you apply for a Cordoba Gold cashplus prepaid MasterCard your credit rating is NOT taken into consideration because the Cordoba Gold card is not a Credit or Debit card. Even if you have a poor rating you will still be able to get a card.

Unlike a credit card where you buy now and pay later, Cordoba Gold is a prepaid MasterCard card, which means that similar to a Pay-As-You-Go phone you can only spend the money that you top-up on to the account. So, with Cordoba Gold you can only spend what you can afford.

All that bafflegab only obscures the short answer to the question: The primary difference between the Cordoba Gold and a credit card is that the glorified debit card entails no credit.  Hello!  Of course, your credit rating doesn’t matter because there’s no credit involved.

The company maintains it earns no interest on prepaid funds.  How then does Cordoba Gold turn a profit?  Check the fee schedule, found in the terms and conditions.

Card issue fee  £9.95
Monthly subscription fee (per account) £4.95
ATM withdrawal UK £2.00
ATM withdrawal non-UK £3.00
Cash withdrawal at bank £3.00

Additional cards can be provided for family, friends, business associates, etc., for only £9.95 per card.  If you cancel your card and want the unspent balance refunded, you will be charged £10.00.

With that laundry list of fees and charges, the Cordoba Gold will be gold, all right: A gold mine for the company that markets this little scam.

h/t: Dhimmi Watch

The collect for today, the 12th Sunday after Trinity, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty and everlasting God, thou art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than we desire, or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3:4-9
The Gospel: St Mark 7:31-37

The Collect for today, the Holy Day of the Transfiguration of our Lord (source):

O God, who on the holy mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thy well-beloved Son wonderfully transfigured: Mercifully grant unto us such a vision of his divine majesty, that we, being purified and strengthened by thy grace, may be transformed into his likeness from glory to glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 St Peter 1:16-21
The Gospel: St Matthew 17:1-9

Artwork: Transfiguration, Mosaic, Franciscan Basilica of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, Israel.