The Legion of Reason Podcast ep. 269 for January 27, 2020.... Some final thoughts on wokeness in the entertainment industry, including the motivation behind the attacks on movies like Joker (which have begun again with its 11 Oscar nominations) and Ford v Ferrari, the destruction of Star Trek and all it once represented, and the difference between my position and that of the blue-checkmark crowd. Then it's off my chest once and for all. I swear! The world has lost a comic genius in Terry Jones of Monty Pyton fame. We look at his contribution to the skeptic and atheism. A University of Alberta anti-choice student group has won a court battle. UAlberta Pro-Life claimed the whopping $17,500 price tag on security for an event they were hosting infringed on their freedom of speech. The appellate court agreed. We have a look at the implications of this decision in a country where freedom of speech is not enshrined in its constitution (or in this case its Charter of Rights and Freedoms). Coincidentally, Alberta's Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides has directed post-secondary institutions to adopt free speech principles based on the University of Chicago model. A Quebec court has struck down the arbitrary and frankly ridiculous criterion of "foreseeable death" will be no more come March 12, leaving the federal and Quebec provincial governments scrambling to fill the void. Justice Minister David Lametti, who has made numerous statements about expanding MAID eligeability, plans to table legislation in February. Public consultation in the form of a questionnaire on the Government of Canada website ends tonight at midnight. Quebec is readying its own legislation which was to include accessability for reasons of mental health, but has put a hold on this provision. Meanwhile, the BC government in Vancouver is threatening to withdraw public funding for the Irene Thomas Hospice as it refuses to allow MAID on its premises. Catholic Watch... And of course Catholic authority is inciting "resistance". Pope Frank has come out unequivocally that MAID is not acceptable. Speak for yourself, Frank. They've been active across The Pond on the Isle of Man as well. Locally, Edmonton's Archbishop Richard Smith and minions have sent a pastoral letter read in Alberta and North West Territories parishes. Do we have a replacement for the retired Bishop Fred Henry? Quack Tracts... An appellate court in BC has ordered the vaccination of two children over the objections of their mother, who questioned the safety of immunization. While the judge in this case got things right, we look at the problem of adjudicating science in a courtroom. We didn't get through all the topics listed here, so we'll finish next episode.
Links:
Terry Gilliam in memoriam:
https://tinyurl.com/tese8sl
Student group wins free speech court battle:
https://tinyurl.com/uo4meyf
https://tinyurl.com/t4v9bce
Alberta government and campus free speech:
https://tinyurl.com/rt7jum8
MAID story links:
https://tinyurl.com/y5r53ysw
https://tinyurl.com/r8naery
https://tinyurl.com/wlp5wtu
https://tinyurl.com/ue45rge
Hospice refuses to offer MAID:
https://tinyurl.com/rcp8v34
Catholic Watch...
More Catholic opposition to MAID:
https://tinyurl.com/qlee5ak
https://tinyurl.com/wt2zl26
https://tinyurl.com/rvzonul
Quack Tracts...
Anti-vaxx story links:
https://tinyurl.com/yx22d8d7
https://tinyurl.com/shyw22s