Diogenes Borealis news on Blogging Tories

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)[NOTE: Although there are no pages missing from the notebook, but in Sgt Burnett's journal there is a one-month gap between July 31 and September 1, and the entries jump from "21st trip" to "23rd trip"]Tues Sept 1/4223rd tripTook off from base Topcliffe Yorks. in Bal 887 H harry Skip

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted 18 hours ago

Urban immersion in Toronto

I spent the weekend in Toronto to do a little shopping and to enjoy a few beautiful late-summer days before fall sets in. I love Toronto, but my periodic visits also remind me why I'm glad I don't live there anymore.To start, here's my recurring complaint about the TTC. Toronto needs to get a grip on its transit system - the subways are run-down and filthy, and surface transportation on its vau

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted 2 days ago

Former top Republican comes out

Ken Mehlman, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, has publicly confirmed that he is gay in an interview in The Atlantic:Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay.Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He ag

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 25th

The Final Solution to the gay problem in Uganda?

Jeff Sharlet of The Advocate reports on virulent homophobia in Africa and the involvement of American evangelical Christian missionaries. He interviewed missionaries Tom and Teresa Harris in Kampala:“Spiritual war” is a theological term, but in Uganda — ground zero for an explosion in violent homophobia across Africa — it’s taking increasingly concrete form. For the Ugandan government, t

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 24th

France's malignant influence

In today's National Post Lorne Gunter discusses the question of "who's to blame for failed states?" According to Foreign Policy magazine, the UN and France shoulder a large portion of the blame. I particularly loved Gunter's skewering of France, whose insufferable national smugness is a constant source of irritation:More surprising even still was the selection of France as one of the key con

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 20th

Populate or perish

This article in The Australian takes a swipe at politicians campaigning in Australia's current federal election on platforms of halting development and population growth. Canada shares some of Australia's challenges - a relatively small population spread out over a huge area and largely concentrated in a few big cities.Australian politicians at state and federal levels have obviously failed to c

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 19th

"The ghosts that haunt modern architecture"

In today's National Post Robert Fulford reviews a show called Yesterday's Tomorrows, now running at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. Fulford relates the story of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his battles with a client, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. The tale of the Farnsworth House nicely illustrates the disconnect that frequently exists between modern architects and the people who have

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 17th

Invasive species & biodiversity

Remember the panic about zebra mussels and purple loosestrife? Relax, says Ronald Bailey at Reason: invaders rarely result in the extinction of native species.The fear among opponents of "invasive species" is the aggressive outsiders will cause a holocaust among the native plants. That might initially seem reasonable because there are a few species, like kudzu, purple loosestrife, and water hyac

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 11th

Minority rights & the referendum

Costa Rica's highest court has blocked a referendum that would have allowed citizens to vote on allowing same-sex civil unions:Costa Rica's top court has blocked the electoral tribunal from holding a referendum that would have let voters decide if same-sex civil unions should be allowed in the Central American country.The Constitutional Court's 5-2 decision released Tuesday says such a referend

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 11th

North Korea gets funky

YouTube video of North Korean propaganda films set to a great funk soundtrack. "Have a funky good time with the North Korean People's Army (before they starve to death)."

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 10th

propaganda films, funky good time, korean people, north korea, army, funk

Gay & pro-Israel

National Post columnist Kelvin Browne writes in an editorial titled Gay, pro-Israel and fed up about being gay, supporting Israel and voting for Stephen Harper. The column was prompted by anti-Semitic comments made at a dinner party he attended. I can sympathize - I've been lectured by gay men on Israeli "apartheid" on the assumption that I'm a fellow-traveller, and I'm deep in the closet in

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 10th

Time to get the state out of the marriage business?

David Harsanyi at Reason argues that it's about time to "free marriage from the state":Imagine if government had no interest in the definition of marriage. Individuals could commit to each other, head to the local priest or rabbi or shaman—or no one at all—and enter into contractual agreements, call their blissful union whatever they felt it should be called, and go about the business of th

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 6th

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Judge in California gay marriage case is no left-wing liberal

Judge Vaughn Walker, who yesterday overturned California's Proposition 8 banning gay marriage, has been accused of "extreme judicial activism" and "judicial tyranny"; a "San Francisco liberal" who has allowed his personal bias to thwart the will of the people. David Boaz of the Cato Institute points out a few facts about Judge Walker that inconveniently don't fit this narrative:In fact, Ju

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 5th

Why the Green Party can't be taken seriously

Elizabeth May has chosen former NHL hockey player Georges Laraque to be the Green Party's new deputy leader. Why? Well, he's a former hockey star, he's from Quebec and he's a vegan. Seriously - that's about it. According to an interview in today's National Post, Mr. Laraque seems a bit of a lightweight for such an important job in a party with nationwide political ambitions.He comments on wh

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted August 3rd

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An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Fri July 31/4221st tripTook off from base at 0046 hrs with own crew and air craft. Bomb load 2 1/2 ton. H.E & incendaryTarget Dusseldorf one of many important targets of Germany. Arrived over target flak wan't too bad search lights were numerousWe started down to bomb when our starboard

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 31st

An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Wed July 29/4220th tripTook off from Base in own air craft and with own crew at approx 1145Target Saarbrucken. had to cross France to reach target above 10/10 clouds Full moon Saw plenty of air craft, but were our own. Target was a cinch very little oppositionlanded at approx 420 AMWe

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 29th

419 squadron, flight sergeant, air craft, target, enemy air, saarbrucken, full moon, amwe, lost one, cinch, ops, clouds, diary, notebook

Electric car insanity

Peter Foster unloads on the Chevy Volt in an editorial in the Financial Post - The Voltswagen: The people's car the people pay for:Ontario taxpayers should be grateful that the Chevy Volt is not due to appear in the province until next year. Put together a $10,000-per-car provincial subsidy with ultra high-cost solar electricity foisted on the public via feed-in tariffs and you have a level of ec

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 29th

An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Tues July 28/4219th tripTook off from base with own crew at 2245 hrs in own aircraft.Target Hamburg. Visibility was very bad but clear over target, went in and got caught in search lights dropped our load and done a lot of tall weaving to get out flak was very heavy and close. I could se

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 28th

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Gay marriage didn't destroy marriage in Canada

It's been five years since Parliament legalized gay marriage, and according to Lorne Gunter "in that time the sky has not fallen in on traditional, opposite-sex marriage". He writes in today's National Post Same sex unions didn't kill marriage:This month marks the fifth anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada. In that time the sky has not fallen in on traditional, oppos

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 28th

An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Sun July 26/4218th tripTook off from base with own air craft and crew at 2215 hrs. with H.E. and incendary bomb loadTarget hamburg second largest city in Germanyvisibility 10/10 cloud full moon. hight 16 000 ft.were 200 mi from Eng coast when I observed a fast AIRCRAFT, believed to been a

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 26th

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Get rid of the census altogether

The Economist makes the case in an article titled Leviathan's spyglass that an expensive, inaccurate direct-count census is an anachronism that most countries would be well rid of:GOD is, according to the Bible, in two minds about censuses. The Book of Numbers is so named because of God’s command to Moses that he should count the Israelites in preparation for war. Years later when King David do

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 26th

Signs of the impending Dark Ages

Elton John is working on a musical stage version of George Orwell's Animal Farm:Sir Elton John is reportedly working on a stage adaptation of Animal Farm, teaming up with the writer of Billy Elliot, for a musical version of George Orwell's classic novel."I'm deep into it, writing songs for pigs and other four-legged friends," Lee Hall told the Daily Mail. "I know that Elton likes to have the

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 26th

An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Sat July 25/4217th tripTook off from base at 2345 hrs in own air craft and crew new navigator as our own was sick in hospitalTarget Duisburg again this target has copped it five times now it has important submarine building base vis 10/10 clouds over target flak heavy observed one good

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 25th

419 squadron, flight sergeant, submarine building, target, air craft, duisburg, ops, clouds, diary, notebook

An obituary to die for

Some of the best writing is found in the obituaries of The Economist; they're quirky and sarcastic and always beatifully written. Reading them is like taking a master class in journalism.The May 29 issue features an obituary for British economist Wynne Godley, who died on May 13th at the age of 83. Here's part of what The Economist had to say:On the face of it, this was not a turbulent life. Yet

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 25th

Time for libertarians to stand up for Tony Clement

I'm the first person to admit that the Conservatives have made some boneheaded moves while in office, but the outrage being churned up over the census issue needs to be confronted head-on by libertarian Conservatives. This is a libertarian move by a government that often seems deaf to pleas that the state be made less intrusive in the lives of its citizens, so when they actually make a move in th

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 25th

An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Thurs July 23/4210th tripTook off from Base at 0049 with own crew and on A/C BH.604, with flares and bomb load.Target Duisburg. visibiltiy 10/10 clouds clear over target which was lit up by flares.reception was good. dropped our load and got the hell out. not a bad triplanded at 0400 all

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 23rd

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Signs of the impending Dark Ages

Just in case you don't move in the elite circles of the fine arts academies, here's a brief but terrifying glimpse of what cutting-edge artists are up to these days. Clearly the complete and utter collapse of western civilization is not too far away. Behold - the work of Keith Boadwee, adjunct professor of Fine Arts at the University of California, Berkeley:Keith Boadwee was born in Mississippi

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 21st

Mugabe: polygamy is no slippery slope

Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe has given a new spin to a familiar argument used by opponents of gay marriage; allowing gay marriages inevitably opens the legal door to polygamy. Mugabe said the exact opposite in a recent speech - that allowing polygamy in Zimbabwe is in no way a legal precedent justifying gay marriage, reassuring the citizens of Zimbabwe that no one will be forced into a mono

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 19th

"Only libertarians believe in liberty. None of the main parties does any more"

James Delingpole of the Spectator reports on a debate held recently in the UK on the subject "Who holds the liberal torch in 2010: libertarians, liberal democrats or the liberal elite?" Delingpole has a go at Guardian assistant editor Michael White:Most left-liberals, in my experience, are quite terrified of libertarians. They can cope with the more traditional, authoritarian kind of Conservativ

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 18th

Hideous Public Art: Ottawa edition

Way back in 2008, Hideous Public Art visited the Dorothy O'Connell Monument to Anti-Poverty Activism, an eyesore installed near Ottawa City Hall. Today we return to the scene of that crime and examine another ghastly piece of moralizing civic finger-pointing just around the corner, the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights, located at the corner of Elgin and Lisgar Streets.Ottawa has its fair share of

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 17th

The Homosexual Menace

Here's a handy YouTube field guide to homosexuals. An excerpt:"Homosexuals, or 'fancy gentlemen', are manufactured in Greece by Satan himself, and then shipped all over the world to infiltrate society ... Once settled, they reproduce by the process of mitosis and begin their nefarious exploits."(HT: Towleroad)

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 16th

process of mitosis, youtube, homosexuals, nefarious, gentlemen, satan, excerpt, greece

The natural libertarian

Lee Harris of the American Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think-tank, examines the phenomenon of the "natural libertarian" in an article titled The Spirit of Independence: The Social Psychology of Freedom. He argues that the ideology of libertarianism arises from a natural tendency towards independence and self-reliance that is always found in a certain segment of the human population. Natu

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 15th

NOW everyone's mad at Mel Gibson?

So Mel Gibson's in deep shit over "racial & sexist slurs" delivered over the phone to his ex-girlfriend, but it's taken this episode to make him persona non grata in the entertainment industry?"It is shocking to hear from this man, who has such charm and seeming intelligence in his film roles, but has emerged as a dastardly anti-hero," said HollywoodLife.com editor Bonnie Fuller. "Guess

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 14th

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An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Mon July 13/4215th tripTook off from Base at 0035 with own crew in HBomb load:- one 4000 lb bomb.Target Duisburg on the edge of the Rhur districtVisibility 10/10 clouds thick haze over target. Dropped our bomb visually on town, lit up from flares opposition was fair No enemy a/c encounter

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 13th

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An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Wed. July 8/4214th tripTook off from Base at 2350 hrs with own crew A/C H. with one 4000 lb bombTarget:- Wilhelmshaven on the Northern Coast of Germany. This is a dock area turning out submarines and mine layers.flak was pretty fair but not concentrated.We had to stooge around before ent

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 8th

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An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Mon July 6/42This was not counted as an operational trip because we never reached the enemy coast.We took off from base at 2336 hrs in AX3404 Skipper P/O Higham With two mines aboard each weighed approx 1200 lbs But we only got about sixty mi when our starboard engine stopped on us.

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 6th

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An RCAF Flight Sergeant's Diary

From "My Diary of Ops" - the notebook of Flight Sergeant E. Burnett, 419 Squadron R.C.A.F.(part of a series)Thur July 2/4213th tripTook off from base in own air craft and crew at approx 2338 hrs. with bomb load of three ton.Target:- Bremen. Night was very good No cloud moon was behind us. target was hot tonight, we dropped our load and got out. Run into an ME110 I opened up on him first he b

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 2nd

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The best architecture since 1980? Yikes.

Vanity Fair has a slideshow of "the top 21 most important works of architecture since 1980". You've got to be kidding me - apparently we have lost our collective minds. I notice Daniel Libeskind's ROM Crystal didn't make the list (but his Jewish Museum in Berlin did, and it's essentially the same building).James Lileks comments on Vanity Fair's architectural tastes:The second one makes me l

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 2nd

When bread is assured, circuses fill men’s minds

Theodore Dalrymple on sports in general and France's World Cup humiliation in particular:Knowing the dangers of snobbery, however, is not quite the same as eliminating it from one’s own heart and mind. I admit that, in the inner recesses of my being, I am a fearful snob. For example, I feel nothing but contempt for people for whom sport is important. This is particularly pertinent at the moment

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 1st

Life in the closet still a reality for many gay men

Kelvin Browne has an editorial in Wednesday's National Post about the sad fact that many gay men still find themselves unable to come to terms with their sexuality. I know myself that this is true - I didn't find the strength to come out until I was in my late forties. Here's Browne's article, The closet still isn't empty:During Gay Pride celebrations in coming days, gay men will openly celeb

Diogenes Borealis | more | posted July 1st

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