Oh Canada, WTAF Pt 2

Carney  definition: a carnival worker, Carnies are junky ride jockeys that are here today and gone tomorrow. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is certainly putting on a clown show.

In response to a massive rise in antisemitism and assaults on Jews in Canada he has announced a new committee to deal with the problem:

Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, which will be chaired by Culture Minister Marc Miller.  . . . its “first responsibility” will be to “address antisemitism.”

Sounds lovely, but as carnies are wont to do, it is a bait and switch.

This DEI committee replaces the special envoy to combat antisemitism  post- but that envoy post has been vacant under Carney for almost a year now.

Instead of a focus on stopping antisemitism as announced this committee is basically a DEI clown show.

In another sign that the Prime Minister is clearly not serious on actually combating antisemitism, this committee announced to combat antisemitism has more Muslims than the Jews on the committee (there's all of one Jew on it) and those Muslims have rather colorful backstories:

The makeup of the new advisory council includes some questionable choices. Miller, for example, served as immigration minister from July 2023 to March 2025. Given that Canada has welcomed unprecedented numbers of newcomers over the past decade, many from countries with high rates of antisemitism, it seems unlikely that he will be willing to admit that some of his own policies may have contributed to the problem.

It also includes Avnish Nanda, the lawyer who represented the anti-Israel students who launched a Charter challenge against the University of Alberta after they were evicted from their illegal encampment, and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.

Alghabra, in particular, has faced considerable scrutiny for his views on Israel and questions over his support for Islamism. He’s the former president of the Canadian Arab Federation, a group that, after this tenure, lost federal funding for its apparent support of Hamas and Hezbollah. In 2022, he defended his attendance at a Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group reception attended by Nazih Khatatba, the editor of an Arabic-language newspaper accused of spreading antisemitism.

This is not to say that either Nanda or Alghabra are antisemites, but given their history, they are certainly odd choices to lead a council tasked with, as Carney put it, “preventing radicalization and addressing institutional biases.”

But, at fear not, there's also a progressive LGBT actisvist,  a retired speedskater, and a Metis advocate for natives in society on the committee so there's that. I daresay the speedskater will be on thin ice with the group.

Yes, the committee announced with great fanfare and tasked to address antisemitism in Canada has people on it who are arguably on the side of the antisemites.

You really can't make this stuff up. 

Justice Sotomayor Must Be Happy That

She is now certifiably not the dumbest justice sitting on the Supreme Court:

 Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson steals that prize from Sotomayor, easily.

The Federalist: Justice Jackson’s ‘Turning Japanese’ Argument Is So Dumb It Stuns

One may hope, but certainly not expect, that the Democrats have learned not to use DEI as a selection criteria for picking Supreme Court justice candidates in the future. 

This Should Not Be Controversial

But I'm sure it will be.

 Flying: FAA Orders Merit-Based Hiring at Airlines

In what it framed as a reversal of Biden-era policies, the FAA on Friday said it will require commercial airlines to commit to “merit-based hiring” for pilots.

The directive comes in the form of an “operations specification.” To comply, Part 121 carriers must certify that their hiring process for pilots is exclusively based on merit, as demonstrated by experience, technical aptitude, and other factors. The operations specification takes effect 30 days from February 13.

That merit was not the only and sole consideration the entire time is a sad commentary on the progressives woke-addled DEI-craziness that has been badly affecting safety.

Given some recent major aircraft accidents had DEI-oriented practices as a factor, such a return to only merit-based hiring is rather refreshing and indeed there should never have been a departure from a purely merit-based approach.

Well, That Got Walked Back Quicky

Looks like Dearborn Heights isn't rolling out the Arabic police patches after all.

The Detroit News: Dearborn Heights walks back post about police patch with Arabic writing

The push-back that resulted from the announcement that they would be the first police department with Arabic patches has them not just reconsidering but claiming it the whole thing was just an "internal discussion". 

Sure it was. 

This Is Fine - DEI And Police Ediiton

The Dearborn Heights Police Department has decided to update their patches.

The update makes them the first police department in the United States with Arabic on their patches.

 Fox2 Detroit: Dearborn Heights first in U.S. with Arabic on police patch

So is it DEI or DIE? 

Authentic DEI Gibberish

Shades of the Sokal Text, but even better and more poetic.

The Daily Mail: Straight white author's career finally takes off after he tells woke publishers he's gender queer Nigerian

The hero of the story, Canadian poet Aaron Barry of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada decided to do an experiment.

He decided to write absolute nonsensical poetry while using not just a pen name, but a poetic identity as a Nigerian gender-fluid auteur. 

The change to a favored minority identity that checked multiple DEI-boxes worked. 

It didn't just work well, it worked over and over again with over  50 gibberish poems published with 30 different publishers -- not for the poems merits -- but for the identity and "diversity" of the alleged author.

Yet another example of DEI seeking "diversity and identity" over merit - all in the name of equity, of course. 

Harvard Sues For The Right To Discriminate And Still Get Paid

So what is Harvard objecting to exactly>

The letter to Harvard that is conditioning federal funding on the University complying with the demands in the letter can be read here - Letter to Harvard.

Take a moment to read it.

There's really nothing in the demands in the letter that a reasonable person would find objectionable - Harvard needs to end a pattern of discrimination and hire faculty and administration and intake students based on merit alone; end a tolerance for antisemitism and related threats and vilenceeat the University; build up tolerance and viewpoint diversity in higher education; and actually reform and enforce current student disciplinary rules.

Harvard is apparently fighting in order to be allowed to keep on discriminating, not hiring on merit,  and tolerating antisemitism and student disruptions on campus - and to continue to receive Federal funds while doing so.

Quite a noble hill for Harvard to die on, but they can do themselves.

Harvard of course claims it is its first amendment right to make its own rules.  As a private institution it can - and indeed the Federal Government is not saying it cannot.

Instead, it is stating - correctly - that the Federal Government is allowed to condition funds on adherence to federal policy objectives.

For Harvard to be able to claim that the Federal Government cannot condition spending on adoption of certain policies and conditions in return for the funds is ludicrous and  goes against quite established constitutional law.

If Harvard wishes to continue its actions, all it needs to do is forgo Federal funding and then it can be as discriminatory and non-compliant with Federal guidelines as it may wish. 

But instead, Harvard is suing to have its cake and eat it too.

One should note well that Harvard, the Left, and progressives in general didn't make a peep when the Obama administration sent out his "Dear Colleagues" letter to Colleges to change their procedures on Title IX matters -- to reduce the due process due to the accused in such matters -- and "disparate impact on racial groups" in disciplinary actions -- or else.

Harvard's case should be dismissed and Harvard should be required to make the choice everyone else must make when deciding to accept Federal Government funding - accept the strings that come with the dollars, or forgo the dollars.

DEI Might Be Off To Die At UofM

DEI may be done at UofM or about to get a name change and be squirreled away until the Dems are again ascendant, we shall see.

But for the now, the sad and oft-overeaction of the progressives to the loss of one of their treasured tools is  enjoyable to watch.

The Detroit Free Press:  Decision to scrap DEI leaves U-M students and faculty scrambling to respond

As a policy of discrimination and racial graft may be coming to an end at the University of Michigan, those who benefited from it aren't very happy.

The decision is certainly causing much sadness and anger among the bien pensants of the left who claim ending it is all about the hobgoblin of white supremacy:

Professor Rebekah Modrak, the chair of the Faculty Senate, called for the meeting after Thursday's announcement and said the federal government is trying to control higher education in America.

"They are using the power of the government to engineer a sweeping culture change towards white supremacy," she wrote in an email inviting people to the meeting.

Well no, no it is not. But then again when anything one doesn't like is white supremacy, well, what can you do?

Verily, ending this discriminatory program is the same thing as losing civil rights on campus, as per the local ACLU.

Some scholarships based on DEI are being properly cancelled, to some beneficiary chagrin:

“LEAD scholarship was for students who demonstrated leadership in high school,” Trujillo Garcia said. “I felt it was merit-based. Yeah, there was a significant diversity component to it, but there was a merit component, too. You had to show leadership and achievement.”

Ah, "a significant diversity component" In other words, it was awarded based on "diversity" first and foremost, hence why it is being done away with now.

Meanwhile,  a lack of DEI  is apparently causing trouble with progressive jargon-filled activities

"Jade Whittaker-Mitts, a 21-year-old senior from Cadillac, agrees."

. . .

“A lot of my work in those organizations has been, like DEI-focused, in a kind of adjacent way,” she said. “Doing a lot of food sovereignty work, that doesn't exist if you don't have DEI.”

Interesting the claim of how the concept of  "food sovereignty" doesn't work without DEI.

Apparently "food sovereignty" is progressive jargon for Marxist food policies - food policies that, you know, typically lead to starvation in socialist systems that adopt them, for the people, naturally:

“Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.”

It gets even more jargon-y from there.

Progressives really hate free markets in absolutely anything, and the Food Sovereignty movement is yet another leftist globalist intersectional approach to nowhere good.  If DEI ends it at UofM that's a positive thing.

Gladiator II - Just Why?

To say Gladiator 2 was a sequel no one asked for is an understatement.

The first Gladiator was fun, had some respect for historical accuracy, and was a pretty accurate reenactment of the Rome tactics and gladiatorial games of Marcus Aurelius' time.

 Gladiator 2, not so much.

To say it had so many blatant historical inaccuracies it would hurt a classicist's soul is accurate. Verily, it did.

Horrendously bad, it was. 

It begins with a Roman fleet attacking Numidia under the Emperors Caracalla and Geta sometime between 209 and 211 AD. The leader of Numidia at the time is named Jugurtha.

The problem is the Roman Republic's War with Jugurtha took place in 118 BC, prior to the Roman Empire, and Numidia had been under Roman domian and control since then.

This does let them get some DEI credit for the film though portraying Jugurtha as Black, rather than North African Berber so there's that. 

And no, the Roman generals at the time of Geta and Caracalla were not known to run ahead of their formation fighting enemies one-on-one.  Not how it worked.

It gets progressively, and dare I say diversely, worse from there.

Denzel Washington plays Macrinus, as the master of gladiators. He does a fine job chewing the scenery and basically portraying himself out of Training Day. He's an enjoyable actor, but it kills the history of the period all the more, but again awesome diversity DEI credit.

The real Macrinus was the commander of the Preaetorian Guard  and as far as is known was not involved in the death of Geta, but was involved in killing Caracalla and becoming Emperor for a short period before being killed himself.

Oh, and Macrinus, while from North Africa, wasn't Black, but again DEI cred.

Geta and Caracalla are portrayed as effeminate half-wit twin poofs.  Again for DEI credit I suppose, when the historical record is rather different. 

Also, they weren't twins with Caracalla being 11 months older. They were both active on military campaigns and Caracalla was held to be quite the military strategist and campaigner. They did hate each other though and far more than is portrayed in the movie.

Caracalla also never had a pet monkey.  Lawdog is likely happy to know that.

Gladiator 2 even literally jumped the shark by having sharks in the Colosseum during the nautical battle scene.

While Rome did stage a Naumachia in the Colosseum at least once, the Romans did not capture sharks and have them swimming around the Colosseum during such battles.

Hilariously and painfully the naval battle itself was announced as a remake of the Battle of Salamis and described as a battle between the "Trojans and the Persians".

The Battle of Salamis was between the Greeks and the Persian  - in 480 BC. The Trojan war was much, much earlier, in the 12th or 13th century BC between the Greeks and the Trojans.  

The movie then continues with more and more historical inaccuracies.

There's even people sipping coffee and reading newspapers during the movie. 

Coffee didn't come to Rome as a beverage before the 17th century AD,  and newspapers weren't invented until the 1400s AD - over a thousand years after the events in the film.

I mean you can take license with historical events, but asking the audience to disbelieve a thousand years worth of an anachronism is asking for a bit much. 

In short, if you haven't seen Gladiator 2 yet,  I recommend you disbelieve it ever existed.  Instead you can have a much better and more enjoyable use of your movie-watching time by watching Gladiator again.

A Step In The Right DEIrection

The times, they are a changin', and DEI loyalty oaths may be on their way out at the University of Michigan.

The Detroit News: UM will no longer use diversity statements in faculty hiring, promotion, tenure

This is, of course, causing some consternation among the progressive faculty set, but it may open some opportunities for ideological growth, competition, and dare we say, actual diversity? 

After all, with 98.16% of University of Michigan faculty campaign donations going to Democrats, it is quite the ideological echo chamber at present. So, removing a filter and likely barrier to entry should be rather welcome.

It's a start, at least.

Grrl Power Burns

You really can't make this stuff up.   

When diversity is prized more than competence, unfortunately stuff like this happens. We've been told for years that gender doesn't matter in people being able to do a job. That is, until now, when we're told gender and diversity are the vital parts of doing a job.

The Western Standard: Female firefighters planned burn goes awry in Banff

To say it went "awry" is an understatement.

A prescribed burn highlighted on the agenda of a women’s firefighting conference, held to promote “diversity and inclusion” in a male-dominated field, didn’t go well.

Accidentally setting Banff National Park ablaze wasn’t part of the plan.

The prescribed burn was carried out in Compound Meadows, adjacent to the Banff townsite, by Parks Canada and participants in Canada’s first-ever Women-in-Fire Training Exchange (WTREX).

It raged out of control Wednesday forcing the temporary evacuation of horses from the Banff Light Horse Association and hundreds of area residents and tourists in the Rocky Mountain Resort. 

The conditions that day were actually against doing a prescribed burn, but it was on the agenda, and girl power over environmental conditions and the patriarchy, right?

They also had some non-binary firefighters there for more diversity, which was nice. 

The May 1-12 conference attracted certified firefighters from Canada, the US, Bolivia, and Ecuador to, among other things, combat adversity in a male-dominated profession.

Instead of a nice gender-affirming and adversity-combating controlled prescribed burn, they got a wildfire burning out of control in a National Park.

Even worse, men had to be called in to help put it out:

The calvary was called in to help fight the blaze.

Five helicopters raining down buckets of water, firefighters from both Banff and Canmore, Alberta Wildlife, and RCMP were needed to help Parks Canada and WTREX participants stop the fire from spreading further, control the traffic situation, and help with evacuation efforts.

To make matters even worse than that, when concerned residents saw the smoke and called the Women-in-Fire Training Exchange to ask what was wrong they were told:  

"Nothing, it's fine.", and then silence.