December 2005 – Page 9

Do You Do That Dance?

Thursday evening, 7pm Eastern time, I want everyone to run outside and wiggle your bums, chanting, “Snow DAY! Snow DAY!” Then head indoors and recite incantations for to sky to dump four inches of snow on Central Indiana.

You down?

In Remembrance: The Montreal Massacre

Yesterday was the anniversary of the massacre at Ecole Polytechnique, which left 14 women dead. Sixteen years ago, a man (whose name I’m not writing because he deserves no recognition, no legacy, and no mention here) walked into the school toting a semi-automatic rifle — with a plan to kill women, simply because they were women and in a “man’s” place. He shot and killed one woman in the hallway, then entered an engineering class and told all the men to leave the room. He lined the women up, and open fired on them while screaming, “You’re all a bunch of feminists! I hate feminists!” Then he went downstairs, firing at random on the way, and he killed three people in the cafeteria. After that, he went into another classroom, where students and professors were cowered under their desks. He climbed on top of the desks to shoot the women underneath them, killing four more people. Then he killed himself.

It is the worst single-day massacre in Canadian history. Two more students who were there the day of the killings committed suicide afterwards. From the killer’s suicide note:

Please note that if I am committing suicide today … it is not for economic reasons … but for political reasons. For I have decided to send Ad Patres [Latin: “to the fathers”] the feminists who have ruined my life. … The feminists always have a talent for enraging me. They want to retain the advantages of being women … while trying to grab those of men. … They are so opportunistic that they neglect to profit from the knowledge accumulated by men throughout the ages. They always try to misrepresent them every time they can.

Attached to that note was a list of 19 prominent Quebec women. He wrote, “[These women] nearly died today. The lack of time (because I started too late) has allowed these radical feminists to survive.”

The killer had been rejected from Ecole Polytechnique, and blamed affirmative action policies intended to increase the percentage of female students.

Sixteen years ago, this tragedy mobilized Canadians to address the issue of violence against women. Gender-based violence is certainly not a problem that we’ve solved yet, and it remains a far-reaching one. It’s just usually quieter and more private than this.

This man’s act was intended to terrorize women everywhere, and his aim was to scare them back into traditional roles. He thoroughly failed: From 1989 to to 1999, the number of women in Canadian engineering schools more than doubled, to more than 9,000.

The names of the murdered women are:

Geneviève Bergeron, aged 21;
Hélène Colgan, 23;
Nathalie Croteau, 23;
Barbara Daigneault, 22;
Anne-Marie Edward, 21;
Maud Haviernick, 29;
Barbara Maria Klucznik, 31;
Maryse Leclair, 23;
Annie St.-Arneault, 23;
Michèle Richard, 21;
Maryse Laganière, 25;
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22;
Sonia Pelletier, 28; and
Annie Turcotte, aged 21.

Jesus Poetry, Add Pundit

My Other Boyfriend™ discusses the disappearance of The Holiday Formerly Known as Christmas and can barely keep a straight face. See Jill’s take below with an engaging conversation by y’all, the usual suspects.

The compelling question: “Why would anybody take the baby Jesus?”

Here, friends, is a small peek into Lauren’s irreverent formative years.

Carnival of Feminists Part 4

Is up over at Happy Feminist. And it’s a good one, do check it out! Many of my favorite posts from the past weeks are up — and thanks to the Happy Feminist for hosting, and for including a Feministe post.

The next carnival will be at Scribblingwoman. Send submissions to jones AT unbsj DOT ca by December 17th.

Where Are the Boys?

This article has gotten a lot of play in conservative and Men’s Rights circles, as it laments the supposed disappearance of men from higher education. Now, were young men rapidly disappearing from college, or systematically being paid less for their work, or relegated to low-paying industries, I’d say it’s time to do something. And I agree with the author that the high school drop-out rate is a huge problem, particularly among urban and low-income youth. But is he right that boys are losing out on college?

Well, no:

Problem is Gurian’s alarming statistics are flat wrong. Men are NOT disappearing from college campuses. In fact, a higher percentage of all college-age men in the United States are going to college than ever before and this trend has held steady for two decades. What’s really happening is that women are going to college in greater numbers, and college campuses have expanded and multiplied to accommodate them.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1983 some 27 percent of all college-aged American men (ages 18 to 24) were enrolled in college. In 2003 that number was up to 34 percent.

But at the same time, in 1983 only 21 percent of American college-aged women were enrolled in college, and that number climbed more steeply to 41 percent of all college-aged women two decades later.

Gurian writes: “The trend of females overtaking males in college was initially measured in 1978. Yet despite the well-documented disappearance of ever more young men from college campuses, we have yet to fully react to what has become a significant crisis.”

Again, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2003 there were 7.2 million men enrolled in degree-granting institutions and 9.6 million women. This is hardly a disappearance of men.

Ok then.

It was only a matter of time…

Although it seems a long time ago, it really wasn’t, that people who came here from other places made every attempt to fit in. Assimilation wasn’t a threat to anyone – it was what the Statue of Liberty represented. E pluribus unum, one out of many, was our motto. The world’s melting pot was our nickname. It didn’t mean that any group of people had to check their customs, culture or cuisine, at the door. It did mean that they, and especially their children, learned English, and that they learned to live and let live.

That has changed, you may have noticed. And I blame my fellow Jews. When it comes to pushing the multicultural, anti-Christian agenda, you find Jewish judges, Jewish journalists, and the American Civil Liberties Union, at the forefront.

Nope, not joking. And the article is called The Jewish Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

But the dirty little secret in America is that anti-Semitism is no longer a problem in society – it’s been replaced by a rampant anti-Christianity. For example, the hatred spewed toward George W. Bush has far less to do with his policies than it does with his religion.

Which would make sense, if there had ever been a president who wasn’t a Christian.

It is the ACLU, which is overwhelmingly Jewish in terms of membership and funding, that is leading the attack against Christianity in America. It is they who have conned far too many people into believing that the phrase “separation of church and state” actually exists somewhere in the Constitution.

Actually, I think it’s the Supreme Court that “conned” the American people into believing that tconcept, but if Burt wants to credit the ACLU, hey, thanks.

You may have noticed, though, that the ACLU is highly selective when it comes to religious intolerance. The same group of self-righteous shysters who, at the drop of a “Merry Christmas” will slap you with an injunction, will fight for the right of an American Indian to ingest peyote and a devout Islamic woman to be veiled on her driver’s license.

They really need better fact-checkers at WND — or at least people who have a basic understanding of the right to religious expression and the establishment clause. The ACLU won’t “slap you with an injunction” for saying “Merry Christmas” — but they go after religious displays on government property, or religious exercise in public schools. At the same time, they’ll defend your individual right to exercise your religion. It’s not that confusing, and it shouldn’t be this controversial.

I happen to despise bullies and bigots. I hate them when they represent the majority, but no less when, like Jews in America, they represent an infinitesimal minority. I am getting the idea that too many Jews won’t be happy until they pull off their own version of the Spanish Inquisition, forcing Christians to either deny their faith and convert to agnosticism or suffer the consequences.

Uh… over-the-top, anyone? Really, though, I can’t say I’m surprised that the anti-Semitic undertones of this debate have finally been brought to the forefront.

Oh Townhall…

Amanda did it the other day, and I’m stealing the idea. Shorter Townhall:

Ben Shapiro: I haven’t actually seen Munich, but since it’s written and directed by Hollywood liberals it is probably not only supporting the homosexual agenda, but also pure evil. And since it’s about the Israel-Palestine conflict and it’s not being produced by a total right-wing or left-wing nutjob, we can assume that it might actually portray the conflict as complex and nuanced when, really, it isn’t at all. What it comes down to is that Israel has never done anything wrong ever, and if you criticize the Israeli government you’re an anti-Semite, even if you are both Jewish and the producer of Schindler’s List. Additionally, Palestinians are like Hitler. Best you-couldn’t-make-it-up-if-you-tried quote: “This is the problem: Today’s left, and the Hollywood left in particular, sees everyone as human.” Oh, the horror!

Dennis Prager: Here’s some marriage advice you’ve never heard before: (1) Marry your best friend, not just some dude; (2) Marry someone who you’re actually attracted to; (3) Marry someone with basic social skills. And — you won’t believe this one — even men can find women more attractive over time. Amazing.

Thomas Sowell: Lots of us here at Townhall write really bad books that no one wants to buy. If you are a real Christian who does not hate Christmas, you will buy them.

Terance Jeffrey: The Solomon Amendment is about a basic Constitutional right: freedom of choice. The Supreme Court should use the example of car salesmen to decide this case. And that, my friends, is why I failed Understanding Consitutional Basics 101.

Armstrong Williams: The real heroes in the world are working class people who, clearly, are all men. Where are the women, you ask? Well, they get two mentions: (1) Unnamed female neighbor has a brother (Billy) who is serving in Iraq; and (2) the “peers having babies out of wedlock.” Which is how it should be.

The REAL Hot 100

The REAL hot 100 are young women who are smart, savvy, and actively trying to make the world a better place. They contradict the popular notion that sex appeal is all young women have to offer.

The REAL hot 100 also highlights the important — but often overlooked — work young women are doing. Are you a younger woman who is REALLY hot? Do you know a younger woman who is REALLY hot? Submit a nomination today!

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The Opt-Out Revolution

Are they or aren’t they? File this under “thanks for telling us the obvious”:

Working mothers may be stressed by the double job of caring for their careers and their families, but they are not leaving the work force because of it, a report has found.