Another standard-issue lacklustre performance by the Montréal Canadiens, aka the Habs, who got whipped 2-0 by the Florida Panthers in the NHL the other night. At least this Sunday will be the debut of the 2018 Formula 1 Season, with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. I am particularly looking forward to how Toro Rosso's two new lads, France's Pierre Gasly and New Zealand's Brendon Hartley will do. I am also looking forward to see if Williams' Lance Stroll will pick up the pace. I am a McLaren fan, which means that I have the exact same expectations from the fact that I am a Habs fan and a supporter of the Famous.
Speaking of the Famous, it seems that YouTubes mopery in its entirety has a bug up its exit port about "Scumbag Scotland" nicking this Coatbridge (just outside of Glasgow) fellow mope named Count Dankula for having his dog do Nazi things. In particular, the entirety of EnglishYouTubes is up in arms as if Count Dankula's nicking is the very first, very novel, extremely precedent-setting case of limiting free speech in the United Kingdom. That is because English YouTubes mopes--ALLof them, meaning Dick Coughlan just as much as Sargon and Charmingman93/Mitch just as much as Mark Collett, Godwinson and On The Offencive--think that England is the centre of the universe.
They are wrong. For one thing. England is not the centre of the universe. New York is the centre of the universe. England is indeed that largest of the four countriesthat make up the nationcalled the United Kingdom, but "England" is NOTsynonymous with "the entirety of the United Kingdom." Allow me to demonstrate.
In England, you can sing whatever you want at whatever football match you are attending. You cannot do this in Scotland, where Count Dankula had his dog do Nazi things. Allow me to give the clearest example possible, but first permit me an aside.
I am not a fan of Count Dankula. He is only selectively pro-free speech and he is taking suckers, such as English and other YouTubes mopes, for a ride by portraying himself as the first Scot to be martyred for freedom of speech. He is not, and, since he lives near Glasgow, he is very well likely extremely aware of this while doing nothing to rectify the misapprehension he perpetuates. That being said, Count Dankula is not entirely without his merits. Principal among those is his ability to speak Nice, Normal Person English clearly understandable to everyone, in sharp contrast to Dick Coughlan, Vindicator, Sargon, Mark Collett, Godwinson and On The Offencive who speak thick Ronnie and Reggie Kray, as if they are completely unaware that North Americans see Masterpiece Theatre, and thus can tell exactly by his accent whether an Englishman is a decent person or the type portrayed by the guest stars on The Sweeney. Because the Ronnie and Reggie Kray/Sweeneyguest-star types who make up English YouTubes mopery most likely have problems understanding people speaking Nice, Normal Person English like Count Dankula, I am going to post two videos of songs it is illegal to sing at a football match in Scotland, then I am going to put the lyrics below so's the Ronnie and Reggie Kray types supporting Count Dankula can follow along.
"Tho' the streets be broad or narrow, we'll follow we will, follow we will, FOLLOW WE WILL!
Tho' the streets be narrow, we'll follow we will!
We will follow in the footsteps of our team, God bless them!
Follow, Follow, We Will Follow Rangers,
Up The Falls, Derry's Walls, We Will Follow On!
Dundee, Hamilton, Fuck the Pope and the Vatican!
If They go to Dublin, We Will Follow on!
For There's Not a Team like the Glasgow Rangers,
No, not one and there never shall be one!
And fucking Septic know all about their Troubles!
We Will Fight 'Till The Day Is Done!
For There's Not a Team like the Glasgow Rangers,
No, not one and there never shall be one!
Hullo, hullo, We Are The Billy Boys!
Hullo, hullo, you'll know us by our noise!
We're up to our knees in Fenian blood,
Surrender or you'll die!
For We Are the Brigton Billy Boys!"
Someone in England (the home of Richard Dawkins) or America (the home of P. Zed Meyers) would have an extremely difficult time figuring out exactly what in the above song is "offencive." Truth be told, people with common sense in Glasgow (this would be the people living in Govan, as opposed to the East End,) indeed very much have an impossible time figuring out what is wrong with the above lyrics. This has ZEROimpact on the facts that it is illegal to sing the above song at a football match anywhere in Scotland, and that singing this song at a football match anywhere in Scotland will get you nicked.
The law in question, The Offencive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill, was passed in 2012, over half a decade ago. I looked through Dankula's YouTube. The only video of his I saw wherein he is not repeating boilerplate Sargon has him simply dismissing a pro-SNP video, not because he is a Loyal Briton, but because of the SNP's left-wing policies. In his Twitter, he describes himself as a "Nationalist" and not a "Unionist." This description explains why Count Dankula, the recently born-again apostle of freedom of speech, does not have a single video condemning the arrest of supporters of the Famous for singing the above song. In Dankula's YouTube, he does not evince much awareness of things football (by which I mean "football" in the non-NFL sense.) Now, given that he is a pal of Sargon, who proudly professes his ignorance of sports, one might be tempted to conclude that Dankula, just like Andy Warski, genuinely knows nothing about football and thinks ESPN has to do with extra-sensory perception.
This would be a most erroneous conclusion indeed. Dankula is from Coatbridge, which is just outside of Glasgow. Former CBS late night TV host Craig Ferguson is from Glasgow. Although he is repulsed by the spirit of the great football rivalry within that city, he nevertheless is EXTREMELY well aware of it. Sir Alex Ferguson, famous for being the manager of Manchester United, is from Govanand grew up supporting one of the Old Firm teams (even playing for them until they mistreated him.) Although he condemns what he feels are the nastier aspects of the rivalry (Sir Alex comes from a mixed marriage as did his father,) he is also EXTREMELY well aware of the situation regarding football in Scotland which gave rise to the 2012 Scottish (but neither English nor UK-wide) 2012 law referred to in the preceding paragraph. The only way Count Dankula could NOTbe aware of this 2012 law is if he was a 24-7 tent dweller like Millennial Woes, and Count Dankula's paralinguisticsindicate that he is not a 24-7 tent-dweller.
An aside for the Ronnie and Reggie Kray types who think England=the centre of the universe/the whole of the United Kingdow. Craig Ferguson's and Sir Alex Ferguson's family name sounds a lot like the city in Missouri associated with Michael Brown. But their family name is NOTpronounced AT ALL like the name of that city is pronounced.
I am going to stick with Sir Alex Ferguson for a bit to illustrate a few things about Scotland that are alien to people in England and America, things Count Dankula is doubtlessly aware of, but is neglecting to tell you. Here are a couple of excerpts from Sir Alex's book Managing My Life. They relate to the facts that a) Sir Alex is the product of a mixed marriage, b) Sir Alex is in a mixed marriage himself, and c) fact a) and b) are material to employment in Scotland.
Since my mother's [...]faith was strong and my father never held any serious religious convictions, it is interesting that they chose to baptise their two sons [in his father's Church.] No doubt the decision was related to [Sir Alex's parents'] concern about our prospects when we reached working age[...]
[One of Sir Alex's first employers] asked me about [Sir Alex's wife] Cathy's religion. When I confirmed that she was [a member of her Church], [the employer] wanted to know where we had been married. After I told him it was in the registry office, he said "Well, that's all right then." I don't know where my tongue was. How could I, who consider myself a strong character, have refrained from delivering a furious blast in response to such offencive questions? But that is what happens when you desire something as badly as I wanted [this employment.] You are willing to dilute your personality to make the dream come true.
People in England and America will be stunned at disbelief at the first excerpt, then stutter "B-b-but...freedom of religion..." Yes, they have freedom of religion on paper in Scotland too. It does not always translate into real life. Lots of things on paper do not.
As regards the second excerpt, it shows the difference between Sir Alex Ferguson on the one hand and Count Dankula on the other, the two men being born and raised within ten miles of each other. Sir Alex is a real man who understands that very little is absolute in real life and that you have to put up with a lot of crap to get what you want. Count Dankula is a man-boy who wants to have his ka-ka and eat it too, who thinks that just because Sargon says he is a free speech absolutist on the YouTubes, that objective reality where he, Count Dankula, lives is supposed to bend and morph itself to accommodate whatever Sargon says. Sir Alex Ferguson today is famous the world over, having lectured at Harvard Business School. YouTubes mopery was a-whingin' and a-roarin' and a-"Ima-blow-yo-crib-down, Mister Falcon!" over the Count Dankula verdict, but very few non-Page Three broadsheet outlets took note of the verdict, and I saw and heard nothing about it on North American television or radio media.
Do I personally believe in freedom of speech? Yes. It is an integral part of the 1689 Williamite Resettlement Act, ratified in blood the following July at the Boyne. That being said, I also have common sense. Was the kid in the opening scene of The Gunfighter exercising his Constitutional right to freedom of speech by calling Gregory Peck's protagonist "Mr. Frazzle-Bottom?" Yes. Was he exercising common sense doing this in a bar that had the distinct look of a place not accustomed to calling the peelers in case of trouble? No. Hence why he got his excreta pushed in.
Let me give you another example, one I have used often before. It is well known in North America that certain shoppes, bars, strip clubs and poontang palaces are affiliated with certain Clubs. Do I have a right of freedom of speech to stroll right into one of these establishments sporting the colours of, or paraphernalia indicating support for, a rival Club? Yes. Do I do this? No. I do not do this because, even though I have an unquestionable constitutional right to do this, my ass will be in a sleeping bag, weighed down by cinder blocks, in the depths of the nearest river as a direct result of my exercising my constitutional right in this manner. This would render any freedom of speech amicus brief filed on my behalf on the grounds that my rights were violated moot since my corpus would be nowhere to be found to do the rather requisite habeas part of any such action.
THATis how common sense works. Let me give you another example. Enter the search terms "cartel," "Maple Syrup," and/or "Wyoming Stock Grower's Association"/"Johnson County War" into the search function of this blog, and you will see that I hate.loathe.despise Québec's Maple Syrup cartel, a monopoly which, to paraphrase Richard Burton's character in The Klansman, is like "forty youths controlling the lives of four thousand so-called 'free people.' " The Economist is also not particularly fond of Québec's Maple Syrup Cartel which recently banned a syrup producer from donating syrup to community organisations. What you do NOTsee either The Economist or me doing is encouraging people to defythe Maple Syrup Cartel, which has the backing of the government. I hate the cartel and all it stands for. Unlike Count Dankula, I do not play footsie with the law to express this sentiment. Rather, I simply DO NOT BUY maple syrup PERIOD. Until Canada enforces anti-trust laws, there is nothing I can do about the cartel's power, except not feed it by refusing to buy what it pushes. This is also how common sense works.
Count Dankula's legions of YouTubes mopes supporters have suggested writing to Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nigel Farage and POTUS to get them on the case. This is as Sisyphean an idea as any. POTUS failed to get his men elected in Alabama and Pennsylvania this year, and, earlier this year, he ripped Steve Bannon a new one. POTUS also knows that, if the midterms in November do not go his way, he will get nowhere for the balance of his current term. He is not going to touch anything remotely connected to "Nazi," even if it was only in jest. Ibid Nigel Farage, whose UKIP booted Rage After The Storm for making a similarly-themed video. As for Jacob Rees-Mogg, standing up to a bunch of university rioters is one thing. Coming to the defence of anyone remotely whiffing of "Nazi" is another thing entirely. Not to mention, of course, that Farage and Rees-Mogg are MP's in Englandwho would have as much to gain politically from taking on a case in Scotlandas Trey Gowdy and Devin Nunes would have in taking on a case in Upstate New York or Vermont. Count Dankula's district is represented by the SNP. In one of his own videos, he reported that the SNP refused to help him because of the Nazi association of his case.
What Count Dankula is NOTadmitting to you all is that Scotland is NOTEngland and NOTAmerica as far as freedom of speech is concerned, something Count Dankula would have to be a monastic hermit like Millennial Woes to NOTbe aware of. Like the kid who calls Gregory Peck's protagonist "Mr. Frazzle-Bottom" in The Gunfighter, Count Dankula was fully aware that the yesterday's outcome was a distinct possibility. To spare him that outcome is to deny him his Darwin Award.
And, now, I want to end with a couple of plugs.
I first heard of this group on TSN 690. They are called Hockey Helps The Homeless, and they raise money for homeless people by hosting hockey tournaments featuring National Hockey League players and ordinary civilians.
McLaren alumni Sergio "Checo" Perez is collecting money for the victims of the recent earthquakes in Mexico through his foundation.
Puerto Rico has been devastated by Hurricane Maria. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has set up The Empire State Relief And Recovery Effort For Puerto Rico.
On the subject of Puerto Rico, Los Angeles Chef José Andrés has set up an organisation, called World Central Kitchen, to help feed the hungry, not only in Puerto Rico, but in other bad-off places in the world. Please donate or help if you can.
I also want to plug the Patreons of a couple of superb folks. First, there is Jordan Owen, superb musician and content creator. Then, there is Sunny Megatron, Sex Educator and Podcaster. And there is also director extraordinaire and podcaster Holly Randall. They are, all three, highly entertaining to watch. They have the charm and magnetic charisma of The Kylie Ireland Show podcast of a decade ago, starring the legendary, one and only Kylie Ireland and Eli Cross.