Time Immortal

And we have the HRCs to thank for it.

…Bradley Watson, professor of American and Western political thought at Pennsylvania’s St. Vincent College, said he will present a petition calling for the American Political Science Association (APSA) to re-evaluate its selection of Toronto for its 2009 conference at this year’s annual meeting, taking place over the Labour Day weekend in Boston.

His protest has garnered support from dozens of professors across the United States, including prominent scholars such as Princeton University legal philosopher Robert P. George and Harvard University’s Harvey Mansfield.

…Mr. Watson said that professors signing the petition are concerned that recent human rights commission investigations into Maclean’s and Western Standard magazines over articles concerning Islam, and the conviction of pastor Stephen Boisson, who was ordered by Alberta’s human rights tribunal in May to cease publicizing criticisms of homosexuality, suggest that professors risk being chilled from discussing important academic subjects, or ending up in legal trouble. Mr. Watson said he plans to distribute hundreds of buttons to attendees at the Boston conference reading “Toronto 2009, Non!”

What a right mess, yet no more than Canada deserves for allowing the travesty of the HRCs to continue, unimpeded, within its borders.

It should be noted, too, that these professors are not exactly likely to be raving right-wing nutbags; most are very notable for their left-wing views. But that’s how absurd the situation here has really become: American liberals, even the very liberal sorts who teach in places like Harvard and Princeton, want nothing at all to do with Canada because of our lack of respect for the concept of freedom of expression.

God help us, eh?

Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred have a short post up with the actual comparison, and while I’m sure there’s probably room for variance, I have to say that overall the results don’t surprise: wait times in Ottawa average about 20 hours, whereas wait times in Boston average about 1 hour.

I never understood what Michael Moore was getting at in Sicko. Not that I expect the man to turn in anything other than a distorted, misleading account of the subject he is covering, of course…but still. Dude totally glossed over several real problems that exist and persist in Canada’s system today.

Health care would have worked so much better in this country had it been able to stick to its original mandate: providing care for the chronically ill and accidentally injured. But as society got more and more lazy, and as Canadians took less and less interest in being active participants in their own health (see: obesity), it was inevitable that the system would become overloaded.

I was just about ready to chew through solid lead after reading this article in magazine (which Dr. Helen linked to initially). The article — entitled Relationship Conflicts: Your Annoying Habits; 8 Things She Hates About You — was written by a young (?) lady to highlight…well, here, why not have it in her own words (once again, we have an example of a woman columnist talking trash about her husband/boyfriend):

Most of the time he has no idea of what sets me off. Which is why I’ve prepared this handy inventory of things men tend to do that we tend to find annoying. If you study up, you’ll be able to stop repelling the women you want to meet — or aggravating the one you have. And we women can continue not telling you why we’re mad, because we’ll figure, “Hey, he should know already!” Besides, who said this would be fair?

While I’ll grant that there are a few good points made in the article — let us be honest, O Reader: men should be mindful of some things, such as basic cleanliness, the different emotional and conversational needs of women as opposed to other men, the nature of commitment (especially when sex has been a factor in the relationship prior to marriage), and the ugliness of porn — there is also an undeserved harshness to the article as well. It comes off as, at best, condescending (the general air of the article is one of a smart, enlightened woman talking down to barely post-cave-dwelling men), and at worst downright demeaning.

And annoyance #7 made my blood boil, and was the principle contributor to the aforementioned desire to bite through lead:

Annoyance #7
You turn down sex.

When it so happens that we’re the one who wants sex and you’re the one who doesn’t, we find your refusal to be confusing* and irritating**. Reassure us that we’re attractive and that you love us, but that you just aren’t in the mood. It helps to throw out a hint at what’s going on — that you’re tired, depressed, anxious at work, whatever, says Aline Zoldbrod, Ph.D., a Boston-area psychologist***. That way we won’t obsess or be too pouty or aggressive****. If we happen to be fresh off a girls’ night out liquored up and ready for sex, which you’re refusing, tread extra carefully. Horny can change to emotional, crying wreckage very quickly when your girl has a couple of glasses of Prosecco in her*****.

Points I might make:

* why is this confusing? Or is the author writing from the assumption that men always, by definition, want sex, and that no “real” man would ever turn down sex when offered the opportunity for it?

** this part of the argument is specious, since it is probably of no issue or concern to the columnist that her man might find it a bit irritating when she turns down sex for any particular reason

*** this is not bad advice, to be sure, but how often is the requested action reciprocated?

**** I thought “no means no”…yes?

I was actually going to highlight the absurdity of this particular point by re-wording it to appear as though it had been written by a man and addressed to women…but I see that I was beaten to the punch.

When it so happens that we’re the one who wants sex and you’re the one who doesn’t, we find your refusal to be confusing and irritating. Reassure us that we’re attractive and that you love us, but that you just aren’t in the mood. It helps to throw out a hint at what’s going on — that you’re tired, depressed, anxious at work, whatever, says Aline Zoldbrod, Ph.D., a Boston-area psychologist. That way we won’t obsess or be too pouty or aggressive. If we happen to be fresh off a boys’ night out liquored up and ready for sex, which you’re refusing, tread extra carefully. Horny can change to emotional, crying wreckage very quickly when your man has a couple of shots of Wild Turkey in him.

Once again, I am counting my blessings that I married a girl who doesn’t treat men with condescension, and who is genuinely fair in terms of how she matches the treatment she expects from others with the treatment she gives to others. Thank you so much, honey!