Segacs’s World I Know

If this is true, it’s a disgusting example of what can happen in places where gays are the last remaining legally persecutable minority:

An 18-year-old student has filed a suit in Palm Beach County, Fla., against a private school, alleging he was expelled for telling a teacher he is gay.

Jeffrey Woodard claims that Jupiter Christian School expelled him three days after he was pulled out of Bible class by a teacher and asked in confidence if he was gay.

When Woodard answered “yes,” a school official called his mother and told her Woodard couldn’t attend an upcoming school retreat unless he and his mother, Carol Gload, met with the school to talk about his sexual orientation, according to the lawsuit.

“We were given three choices at the meeting — to get counseling, for him to voluntarily withdraw or expulsion,” Gload recalled.

[ . . . ]

School President Richard Grimm said last week that he could not comment on the issue because it involves private information about a former student, but he said the school’s policies are based on Biblical values.

Florida laws don’t prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. So the sickest thing is that this student might actually have no legal recourse.

All this is assuming, of course, that he was expelled for being gay. There could of course be some other reason – maybe he failed all his courses, or assaulted a teacher, or set fire to the locker room.

But if it’s true he was thrown out for being gay, then I can only hope, for his sake, that his case causes enough public debate in Florida to make some changes. It’s time for people to stop justifying this blatant kind of discrimination.

While I’ve been procrastinating, others have been posting.

Damian has the latest on the politician who just won’t leave office, and Paul has a few thoughts on the corruption within the Liberal government under said politician’s leadership. Steve has the shoot-an-FLQ-terrorist video game . . . and the offended reaction of a bunch of separatists with way too much time on their hands. And Occam’s Toothbrush has a link to a George Jonas story in the National Post on the real problem in the Palestinian society. (You’ll note that, unlike Jonas’s horribly sexist article on why women should be flattered to be groped by Arnold Schwarzenegger, this article has a web link).

Allison has a few thoughts on how the Israeli government can step up its PR by recognizing the contribution of bloggers to the pro-Israel effort. Lynn has a brutally honest article by what passes for a “human rights activist” in Jordan (read: someone who wants to destroy Israel). And Imshin helps Lynn figure out what Israeli turkeys say. (Personally, judging by the menus at most Israeli restaurants I’ve ever been at, I’d guess they probably say something like “I don’t want to be schnitzel!”)

I’ve come to the conclusion that blogging is a lot like going to the gym.

Both are routines. Both are great, when done regularly. And both are extremely difficult to get back into once you’ve let yourself stop for a short while.

I haven’t posted a blog entry in 4 days. I haven’t been to the gym in 4 weeks. My site is looking a little thinner. I’m, well, not.

The lack of motivation is probably stemming from an exceptionally busy period at my day job. But I’m determined to shake out of the procrastination mode. And the easiest way to do that is just to force myself right back into it.

So here’s a blog posting. It doesn’t say much, but it’s up there. And it’s easier than the alternative, as it doesn’t involve any cardio activity whatsoever (unless you count my fingers moving over the keys).

As for when I’ll get to the gym next, well, don’t ask.

Just when you thought the answers were no longer out there: The sensational truth about everything.

LGF has the scoop on the latest Palestinian opinion poll, which says, among other things, that nearly 60% of Palestinians would want to continue the armed intifada even after being granted a state, and that almost two-thirds don’t think that the 9-11 pilots were terrorists:

Fifty-nine percent of Palestinians believe that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad should continue their armed struggle against Israel even if Israel leaves all of the West Bank and Gaza, including East Jerusalem, and a Palestinian state is created, a new survey shows.

Similarly, 80 percent of Palestinians say that, under those circumstances, the Palestinians should not give up the “right of return.”

The poll of Palestinians, Israeli Jews, and Israeli Arabs was released in Washington on Wednesday by Itamar Marcus, founder of Palestinian Media Watch and written by pollster Frank Luntz. It was conducted by two polling firms, the Public Opinion Research of Israel and The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.

The poll also examined Israeli and Palestinian attitudes towards the US and towards terrorism.

Nintey-six percent of Israeli Jews say the people who piloted the planes on September 11 were terrorists, while 37 percent of Palestinians share that view.

Slightly more than one in four – 26 percent – of Palestinians believe Israelis planned the 9-11 attacks.

Forty-two percent of Palestinians and 61 percent of Israeli-Arabs stated that they support the people who are attacking Americans in Iraq. Zero percent of Israeli Jews said they did.

The next time someone starts ranting about how the Palestinians would be peaceful if only they had a state, I suggest they consult the opinion polls.

The Palestinian media was never exactly known for high journalistic standards, but lately it seems to be giving the former Iraqi Information Ministry a run for the title of most prone to utter fabrication:

Twenty hours after the IAF helicopter rocket attack on a vehicle containing Hamas terrorists in the Nuseirat refugee camp on Monday night, which was described by the Palestinians as a massacre and by MIK Ranan Cohen as a “blitz”, the air force released footage that clearly shows there were no Palestinian civilians in the street when the two rockets hit the car despite Palestinian reports claiming otherwise.

Not that this will stop the Palestinian people from believing the lies, mind you. They’ll probably accuse the Air Force of fabricating the video, as part of the same usual Zionist conspiracy plot that gets blamed for everything else.

The Link reported that Concordia Hillel lost its court case against the CSU:

In an Oct. 10 decision, the Quebec Court of Appeals found against Hillel’s appeal on lifting the suspension of their lawsuit against the CSU. The court also found in favour of the CSU’s cross appeal to force the inclusion of the Union’s Judicial Board in the process.

The judgment, in my (admittedly non-legal-educated) opinion, seems on the face ridiculous. After all, the Judicial Board consists of people chosen by the CSU Council. The chances that Hillel would have gotten a fair hearing by the JB on this issue last year were pretty slim.

In plain language, this sucks. The CSU Council had no business banning Hillel last year, and the court ruling shouldn’t force Hillel to submit to heavy-handed blackmail.

Oh, and P.S., for anyone wondering what’s been going on at Concordia lately, SPHR is up to their usual Israel-bashing:

A petition presented to the CSU last week by members of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights has demanded the Union hold a general assembly on Nov. 6 to denounce Israel’s “apartheid wall” built along the border between Israel and the West Bank. Many human rights groups have condemned the wall, which groups say encroaches on Palestinian territory. The petition was signed by 250 students, even though only 100 are needed to force an assembly.

Yep, and if they called a general assembly asking people whether they thought all Zionists should be banned from the premises, it would probably get the 100 signatures in a heartbeat.

Great system, eh?

I haven’t been able to blog lately, cause of a whole bunch of stuff all going on at the same time.

But there’s been lots happening lately. Check out some of the links on the left for more about the world’s reactions to the Malaysian PM’s antisemitic remarks, the hate-fest at Rutgers University that makes Concordia look like paradise, and of course, the Habs’ win over the Wings last night.

Hope to resume regular blogging soon. Sorry for the long hiatus.

The right will unite after all:

The leaders of the Canadian Alliance and the Conservatives signed a merger deal Thursday that would see the two parties folded into a single entity in time for an anticipated spring election.

[ . . . ]

The deal, which must be ratified by the respective party memberships by Dec. 12, represents a remarkable breakthrough following weeks of public acrimony during which negotiations appeared to be at a standstill over what were described as “philosophical differences.”

The merger would reunite the western-based and more socially conservative Alliance with Eastern Canada’s progressive Tory wing, ending a break that began with the birth of the Reform party in 1987.

I’m sorry to see Canada’s political landscape becoming more and more like the US, where the 2-party ironclad polarization exists, with no room for middle ground.

As long as the NDP exists, the Liberals won’t go too far left – they know elections are won comfortably in the middle. And the newly-formed Conservative party will probably shift further right.

But I dread the day when the Liberals swallow up the NDP, and we’re stuck voting for either-or on the two extremes.