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It's interesting that as Catholics come out in numbers to brandish crucifixes at gays fighting for equal rights in the eyes of the law, similar displays of intolerance are nowhere to be found as revelations surface of the scale of the Catholic church's sexual abuse of children. Hypocrites, that's what you are. in reference to: Argentina's gays celebrate as same-sex marriage comes a step closer | World news | The Observer ( view on Google Sidewiki )

I don't know what the comment was, but I'm sure it was rude, offensive and insulting. That would be the comment Guy Earle threw at Lorna Pardy, when she disrupted his comedy act in BC. There's conflicting reports from Earle and Pardy, on what was said, and how it got escalated. But, Earle, had his act disrupted continuously by Pardy, who was was with her partner taking in the act. As the heckles continued, Earle verbally went after Pardy. Pardy on her part, didn't shut up, and threw two drinks on Earle. Earle took her sunglasses off her face, and broke them. Was Earle wrong? Was Pardy? Yes, they both were. They both misbehaved. Earle should should have expected as much as a live performer. Pardy for her part, should have shown a little bit more respect for the other patrons, and the other comedians. Where this all goes wrong is with Pardy's suit against Earle and the restaurant owner. She's claiming damages of $20,000, on human rights grounds -- for ...

Not content with their war in the US, the American Christian right is now taking it's hate to Africa. Earlier in 2009, Scott Lively, at the invitation of Uganda's Family Life Network, descended on the African nation to bring the word of hate. Lively, told Ugandans who attended his "Seminar on Exposing the Homosexuals' Agenda" of how American homosexuals were actively recruiting young Ugandans into their movement. He claimed that homosexuality directly increased the divorce rate, child abuse & molestation and HIV/AIDS. The Ugandans attending his seminar, ate it up. Lively went on to meet with Ugandan lawmakers and government officials. The fruits of his labour became the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009 . The act, which was proposed in October 2009, would ban LGBT organizations and introduces the death penalty for homosexuality. American evangelicals have been actively involved in Africa in recent years, as the importance of Africa to Christianity has grown....

Liberty in the Age of Terror: A Defence of Civil Society and Enlightenment Values , by A.C. Grayling. I haven't read the book, but it's certainly of interest, although, like such books, it will already be speaking to the converted. Like so many things, I wonder if we're not continuing the polarization of ideas and positions. Grayling takes on the British government's invasion of civil rights and the public's acquiescing of the intrusion. And besides, even now many supposedly sensible people lazily believe that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. If a few Koran- toting chaps with beards and funny names get banged up in Guantánamo or have to put up with a "control order" to stay in Britain, so what? It is this complacency that Mr Grayling, with passion and elegance, takes on. He describes the if-you-have-nothing-to-hide argument as "one of the most seductive betrayals of liberty" imaginable. The assumption behind it is...

The fact that there are Christians left in Iran is surprising. I would have thought them all gone by now. Either by immigration, as refugees to Christian or agnostic nations -- or by death. Apparently there are still Christians, however. And leaving by death has become acceptable to Iranians -- and by their tolerance, acceptable also to the European Union and the United Nations. Being killed by religious reasons is nothing new. New in Iran however, is death for apostasy . It is now the law in that country -- convert and you will meet your new god very quickly. The killing over religion is registering less and less at an emotional level with me now. I could start the rant right now about religious teachings of tolerance and the irony of killing non-believers. Or the devolution of a once great society in the Middle East since they lost their god -- the hypothetical Allah would be none too happy his Imams today -- and Mohammad has left the house. But why bother. Maybe if we le...

Last week, I met a real witch. I don't mean witch in the Wiccan sense; those that honour nature and are legend for stripping naked and dancing around fires. Nor do I mean witch in the Salem sense; being in the wrong place in the wrong time. I mean witch in the good ole fashion nasty sense -- the whole crone business; of nasty old ladies who cook children in ovens , cause princesses to die by spindle pricks and scare immigrants out of bus seats with their spittle of intolerance. You may not have heard of her, but the wicked witch of Toronto is well known to those who travel on the 53 Steeles Ave. E. bus, on weekday mornings. This witch usually board the bus at the Laureleaf stop. She's peroxide blonde; her stench disguised by expensive perfume; and her body glittering with precious stones. Being a witch in the new century is apparently lucrative -- which makes it a mystery why this hag doesn't have a chariot hauled by black stallions. Last week I had the displeasur...

Censorship of the internet is a growing problem worldwide, and is growing in favour in developed nations , where those charged with fighting terrorism, repeatedly bleat for the suppression of the internet -- for the filtering and monitoring of sites their citizens visit. For now, internet censorship may be far from our minds, but when does it move from the fighting terrorism to the prohibiting of free speech? Censorship around the world is orchestrated by a few -- those in power, usually authoritarian regimes -- who decide that citizens would be harmed if they were exposed to information about religion, sexuality, culture and worse, politics. The concern for these regimes is only for the preservation of their status quo. A servile populace can only remain obedient if they are ignorant and live in fear. The promise of the internet as a vehicle of social change is a frightening prospect for repressive regimes -- and those within our country, who fear change. The world shrinks with...

Intolerance is a well practiced; well documented; universal; and comes in many guises. Even in Canada, we're not safe from intolerance. Someone may hate you for reasons you can't begin to imagine. It could be the colour of your skin, your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), your political ideology or sexual orientation. I just came across a forum posting, titled, Why Gays Fight Back . The content is very disturbing. It contains graphic images of the intolerance towards gays from around the world. There is an image of a 3-year-old Ronnie Parris , killed by his father for being potentially gay. Ronnie's father belongs to an evangelical church that preaches a strong anti-gay message. There is only one reason to be intolerant -- and that is to be intolerant of intolerance itself. We can all make a difference if we speak up against intolerance when it is happening. The worse we can do is remain silent .

You're an asshole. You're an asshole, driver of the Volvo S40, license plate ABVR 226 . You're an asshole leaving your car running, with no one inside, as you went grocery shopping. The temperature was only -11C. It shouldn't matter what the temperature was -- you're an asshole for leaving your car running. You're an asshole because it's behaviour like yours that contributes to the poor air quality of Toronto. You're an asshole because you're demonstrating a casual disregard for the environment. You're asshole because at the current price of gas, you can afford to waste it, and you've demonstrated that you do. You're an asshole that probably lives in my neighbourhood. I don't like assholes on general principles. I like them even less when they live my neighbourhood.

There's something deeply disturbing about this picture. There's always something disturbing with homophobes in general, especially those religiously motivated. This protester however, tops the list -- and I'm assuming here that this one ain't a fake, as it seems to be in the middle of an orgy of homophobic display. This protester is specifically targeting Alan Turing , a British mathematician and cryptographer, largely regarded as the father of modern computing and the code breaker that cracked the German Enigma machine in the second world war. Turing was gay in a time when homosexuals were not tolerated, and the law and medical science tried to cure the homosexual affliction. Turing was stripped of his security clearance, which in effect led to the termination of his work for the government cryptographic department. Alan Turing committed suicide at the age of 41, in 1954.