#you oppose the property owners old ladies die

[mikeo56]

Your -"Dad"-, was a male and dominant; you recognized yourself as female and submissive, so you identified unthreatened with your sister and mother, but not so much with me. As the only other male in the home, the only male you weren't dominated by and completely cowed down, I was one male you could blame and I was just your sole reminder of what your father did to you. You could hate me but you lacked the strength and the courage to hate your abuser.

Does it anger you

that for a moment someone might

entertain the fleeting thought that

I'm not crazy?

Let me tell you what I think is crazy.

Parents and grandparents, drunks and druggies who have a history of neglect and abuse of their children who assert that someone else is a danger to their children, and their accusation must be true simply because they say so, even while they are abusing the children and their children are literally running to the person that they claim is abusing them. And all this, simply because they say so, for no other reason than because they say so, unsupported by fact. But the accusation does fit beautifully with a criminal landlord, a lowlife property management company, a piece of shit attorney and an abjectly owned and shit-eating cowardly judge.

Really, Kind of Magical

[theparanormalperiodical]

The Paranormal Guide to Glamis Castle

2016 was a hard year. It was a year of unexpected a change, a global sweep of political turmoil, and, like, everyone died.

This year handed a pretty similar fate to Simon Bowes-Lyon: in July he became the 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. And although the Earl was used to playing his part in his twisted and deeply-rooted family tree (or is that an overgrown garden of Scottish secrets?), he would take on an even greater inheritance than being a cousin of the Queen: Glamis Castle.

Nestled in the village, Glamis, in Angus, this castle has witnessed 1000 years of history.

And you won’t be reading up on this history in a GCSE textbook. Twists and turns, deaths and wars, births and broken people; it’s no wonder that this is considered one of the most haunted locations in Britain.

Yet beyond the ghosts and ghouls making their way down its passages in the dead of the night, is its cultural value to Scotland. Even now it features on the Royal Bank of Scotland’s £10 notes, and it is categorised as an A-List building.

And no, this doesn’t mean it houses Gwyneth Paltrow for an annual yoga retreat - rather its famous gardens are protected and celebrated for their sheer beauty.

However, it should be made clear that Glamis Castle’s fame is actually down to its messy history and family relations which can’t be pruned: it was the residence of Macbeth (well, according to Shakespeare anyway), the childhood home of the Queen Mother, and the birthplace of Princess Margaret.

And - like most haunted locations - the messy history and family relations was what left behind those that still linger.

Indeed, the fact that its open to the public probably helped carve the path the ghosts take as they trail the castle’s grounds. But the twisted and thorny family tree certainly gave birth to the tales of terror that still haunt this landmark.

And it is Macbeth himself who leaves us one final warning before we embark on our exploration of its haunted halls:

“By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.”

A Brief History Of Glamis Castle

Glamis Castle has been the ancestral seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne since 1372; yep, she’s old.

This is an unbroken line of relations who inherit the castle, and as a result of this, it has witnessed significant chunks of Scottish history. And going simply by the Scottish-English relations mangling British history alone, if the walls could talk, they would probably be screaming.

And thus, we enter one of its first moments of recorded history - the 11th century - with a death, and no less, the death of a king.

Yet even before this, and even further back than the 11th century, there are traces of delicate and deep historical value: a Pictish stone – the Picts were a confederate of Scottish people from the Iron Age to the early medieval era – was found in a creek just by a neighbouring village of Eassie, henceforth bestowing its name ‘Eassie Stone’.

But is it’s the Lord of the castle that weave its wonderous history: the title Lord Glamis was created in the 15th century, and this would echo the chaos of the castle, and I suppose politics in general. For example, the wife of the 6th lord of Glamis was accused of treason, followed shortly with a charge for poisoning her husband. She was accused of witchcraft, and met her fate on the pyre.

Following this, James V seized Glamis, and even lived there for a few years, affirming its political position within history. He was one of the many royals to set up shop here, and contribute to its brutal and bludgeoned past.

It’s pretty obvious that death features prominently in, well, all history, but Glamis Castle in particular has witnessed its fair share of wars; during the commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, soldiers were garrisoned here, and it served a military purpose again a few odd centuries later as a military hospital during the First World War, but it was the former era of Scottish history which left its final mark upon the castle. In 1689 the final major restorations took place, and any changes beyond this only included the creation of a Grand Baroque garden.

Thus, the castle itself was undisturbed by the forces of modernity, and the same can be said for its long-term residents.

The Monsters Of Glamis

History might sound complicated, but hauntings tend not to be.

Often, we tend to come across the same tropes of terror: maybe a queen who wanders the grounds looking for her lost crown; a soldier from some long-forgotten war; or perhaps a witch who was burned at the stake for her crimes (but chances are the castle’s owners fabricated the details to sell more tickets in October).

                                   But did you expect monsters?

Indeed, did you expect something actually called the Monster of Glamis?

In the late 19th century, a child was born – Thomas Lyon-Bowes. And Thomas was the rightful heir to the castle. But it is believed that this child was deformed, so deformed in fact that he was described as half-frog, half-man.

This legend would go on to gain ground in the 1960s due to various biographies detailing the later history of the Castle, and all the things that might remain trapped within it. And it is the ‘trapped’ part of the history that follows so many of winding pathways evoked by our imaginations.

The child had no gravestone which clearly supports the claims that he was kept alive, and kept alive somewhere, yet according to funeral customs of the era, this was normal for an infants’ death.

But it was Michael Thornton’s visit to the castle that stirred the secrets of the castle yet again.

As the official biographer of the Queen Mother, Thornton was told by the 16th earl that the entrance of the chamber where Thomas allegedly lived was bricked up following his death. And this was even backed up by Virginia Gabriel who resided at the castle during Thomas’ rumoured existence.

This rumour can even be traced back to 1908, from which the first reference is made:

"in the Castle of Glamis is a secret chamber. In this chamber is confined a monster, who is the rightful heir to the title and property, but who is so unpresentable that it is necessary to keep him out of sight and out of possession"

The family strongly oppose such claims, yet the legends relating to a supposed ‘secret chamber’ branch out much further than a frog-man hybrid decaying within the walls of Glamis Castle.

It was alternatively claimed that in every generation of the family a vampire was born, and locked away in this secret room.

Or, it could be the story of the death of the Ogilvies which evoked such interest: this family sought protection from their enemies, and were walled up in the ‘Room Of Skulls’ to die of starvation.

However, it turns out that this tale is actually true.

The secret rooms don’t stop here, however; Earl Beardie is the next supernatural phenomenon to lay claim to his residence, even if he is a few odd centuries behind on rent.

The 15th century legend states that either the 2nd Lord Glamis or 4th Earl of Crawford had been playing cards. However, it was the Sabbath, and his hosts and the servants refused to play or advised him to stop such sinful activities.  

In a rage he exclaimed that he would play cards until doomsday arrived, or perhaps with the devil himself. The story goes that a strange man arrived soon after this exclamation. 

The stranger joined his game of cards, and then proceeded to take his soul for he was indeed the devil (reminds me of any odd Friday night at Spoons).

His calls for the devil to join his game were thus met, and he was condemned by him to play cards until Doomsday.

A servant even peered in during this contest out of curiosity, and was blinded by a shaft of light shining through the keyhole.

According to the claims of the castle, his shouts and shrieks still echo down its halls today as they did on that fateful night, and he is rumoured to be still contained within a secret room, gambling his final pennies away with the devil himself.

The Ghosts Of Glamis Castle

As a result of the castle’s brutal history, and the legends supposedly trapped within its thick walls, the many reported sightings of ghosts do not go unfounded.

The most common sighting echoes the history that remains chained to the castle: late one evening, an Earl was taking a stroll around the grounds after dinner, and glanced up at his inherited home.

Yet, to his surprise, his saw something rather out of the ordinary.

A woman was gripping the bars of one of the windows and staring up with wild eyes into the Scottish night.

He made his way towards the window, and attempted to speak to her, but she was torn away from the window by some unseen force. She would be seen again.

In fact, she has garnered the title ‘The Woman With No Tongue’.

She is also often seen wandering the grounds, and pointing up at her scarred face.

Her fate is unknown, yet here she stays.

Our next ghost is rather unimaginative. She takes the name of most female ghosts – the Grey Lady – and even though the exact nature of her haunting isn’t discussed much, she is believed to be the ghost of Lady Glamis.

As discussed before, she was burned at the stake in 1537 for being convicted of witchcraft and conspiring against the king.

The final ghost of Glamis Castle remains close to its regal heritage, so close that is, that it sits by the door of the Queen’s room.

Commonly seen as merely a full-bodied apparition, this servant boy stays close to her quarters, and has never been reported beyond the stone seat he is often found to be sitting on.

Between the royalty, and amongst the residents tortured and tangled within her brutal history, Glamis Castle remains a cultural icon among the Scottish. And why wouldn’t it be?

Boasting magnificent gardens, precisely-preserved pieces of history to lead you down the spider’s web of its ancestry, and a few junctures and jolts to indulge in the possibility of the devil and his many delights, it is truly a relic of real history.

Yet, upon closer inspection, the castle’s official website has purged itself of such rumours.

There is scarce mention of vampire children scurrying through the walls, or of ceaseless Texas Hold’em sending cries down its corridors, or even of terrorised women looking out the windows, and seeking their freedom from the castle which keeps them prisoner.

But what really lies beyond the beauty of Glamis Castle?

[dippedanddripped]

Followers of rappers, musicians, artists and even athletes are paying a lot of attention to what the celebs are wearing on their wrists. Often it is an iced-out, three-dimensional sculpted watch that can’t help but have people talking. Sometimes the watch is part of a brand’s collection, other times it is a spectacular custom-made piece. In fact, the idea of customizing a watch is more prevalent in the world of luxury today than one would think. But if you’re looking to do some after-market watch customization, be prepared to be berated.

Buy a car and add a pinstripe or a scoop and people will ooh and ahh over it, but buy a watch and add diamonds or make other changes, and you may as well have stepped into hell, according to fine watch collectors. After-market customization is blasphemy — or so the purists would say. In fact, it is an age-old problem that has two diametrically opposed schools of thought and evokes some pretty emotional responses among watch devotees.

To die-hard fanatical watch collectors, touching a timepiece after market is like taking a piece of legendary art from a museum and adding graffiti to it. For those who collect true haute horology brands such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Söhne, and others, after-market customization is sacrilege. These collectors are happy to lock their watches — most retailing for $20,000 to $120,000 and up — in the safe and wear them only on special occasions. They put their luxury timepieces on pedestals, and the idea of marring the watch is horrifying. Not only have you destroyed art, but also you have ruined its lasting inherent value (not to mention voiding a warranty).

Keep in mind, we’re not talking about the age-old tradition of hand-painting a special-order dial; we are talking about seriously altering the entire watch case, dial, and sometimes the bracelet. Because just a handful of brands will customize a watch in today’s day and age — it takes away from their serial production work — celebrities, royalty, and other people in high society around the world are forced to turn to after-market customizers in order to get exactly what they want: a unique timepiece.

Sometimes that uniqueness comes in the form of adding mega diamonds or gemstones, elaborate engravings, or colorful PVD coatings. No matter the vehicle used to achieve the end result — a truly personal watch — to the person who dreams of individuality, the finished timepiece is a more valuable work of art and emotion than the original. Today, buyers can get almost anything they want. There are companies that will take apart an entire watch movement and refinish components, replace hands, bezels, and dials, and return a totally foreign-looking but individualized piece to the owner. There are other companies that will resurface cases and bezels, changing the colors or finishes. Then there are those who add diamonds, gemstones, or even ornate engravings.

Carving Time

Somehow the thought of digging an engraving tool into a $10,000 or $20,000 watch and etching away the case metal almost, at first thought, seems like defacing property. But done right, these watches often become incredible works of art. In fact, the after-market engraving work done by New York City-based Fin Des Temps is top quality, highly intriguing, and incredibly in demand.

While Christopher Ser, CEO and master engraver, started his company just five years ago, he has 15 years of experience in the jewelry engraving field. He spent years training other engravers — some hand-picked from the gun-engraving industry — before allowing them to touch a single timepiece.

“Cutting watches is serious — it’s intense and time-consuming. To cut a single watch can take between 50 and 300 hours,” says Ser. “At first, I [was] met with a lot of negativity about my cutting into a watch. But people are coming around. Today when I post a finished watch on my Instagram account, negative comments are just about 20 percent of the responses. Most love what I do. I even have a waiting list.”

It’s not hard to see why Fin Des Temps can’t supply the demand. A close-up look at Ser’s work reveals some pretty emotion-evoking responses. You can tell he has spent a good deal of time with the client, getting to know about their life and how they want to personalize their timepiece. Of course, that customization doesn’t come cheap. On average, Fin Des Temps charges between $15,000 and $30,000 for a fully engraved (dial, case, bracelet) watch.

While Ser says that he views watches as art before he touches them, he also sees them as a wide open canvas. Still, even he says there are watches he wouldn’t touch. “If there are very limited edition pieces, a small number of a certain watch on the planet, then they’re very special and I don’t want to change it. But when I can see five guys on a single subway car wearing a Rolex, what’s blasphemous about carving something [of which] there are thousands of on the market?”

And while others argue that a customized watch loses value, Ser says he has seen his customized pieces sell after engraving. “People get more than what they paid me for because we have turned it into a truly unique piece of art,” says Ser. The fact that Fin Des Temps has a waiting list underscores the idea that art is truly in the eye of the beholder — though this may be a bitter pill for watch purists to swallow.

Authorized After-Market Work

The desire some customers have to change up the looks of their watch is a reality that certain savvy brands are recognizing as well. While they can’t stop their production to answer individual calls for personalization (especially the brands that produce watches in big numbers), they may have found a solution. Some, including the LVMH brands of Hublot, TAG Heuer, and Zenith, have turned to a respected British watch customization company, Bamford Watch Department, to create authorized after-market watches.

According to George Bamford, founder of Bamford Watch Department, the brand offers more than a trillion different combinations for the ultimate customization platform. When he started his company about 15 years ago, he said his mantra was to offer a unique experience and a truly personalized watch. For years, he customized watches using unusual color combinations, finishes, and more. But about five years ago, he was approached by the watch industry’s legendary Jean-Claude Biver (who has led many watch brands to success, including Hublot and Blancpain) and asked to consider partnering with brands for after-market customization.

“Biver told me that it was time to come out of the shade and be part of the solution for brands who can’t do the custom work themselves,” says Bamford. “So now, we are authorized by the brands we partner with.” In fact, the Bamford Watch Department just became the authorized customization firm for Girard-Perregaux’s distinctive Cat’s Eye collection — making the collaboration the first for after-market changes to a ladies’ line.

“Everyone wants individuality and wants to feel special,” says Bamford, who noted that he has already gotten specific orders from women for the Cat’s Eye, including one woman who special-ordered a dial for the approximately $15,000 watch in the exact shade of a 1960 lipstick she loved, driving up the price by at least another few thousand dollars. The point is — those who want what they want, go for it.

With more and more discerning customers wanting uniqueness, we are actually witnessing customization and personalization coming from some independent and boutique watch brands that want to embrace this trend, too. Some, like Jacob & Co., are truly customizing at special request, while others, such as Armin Strom, are leading the way when it comes to offering online configurators. The concept here is that it is better for individuals to work directly with the brands for what they want. The caveat: brands may not want to go as wild and out-there in personalization as the after-market specialists will. (But that’s food for another article.

[activecapitalreinsurance]

Active capital holding | Life insurance policy - 3 of the 7 Tricks to Minimize Your Life Insurance Premiums by 50% to 100% Guaranteed

We are in the middle of among the most unsure economic times in the history of America. This is the ideal time to take a really close look at the Life Insurance plan you've been spending for all these years as well as find out about the brand-new, innovative and also surefire plans which could decrease your annual costs investment by 50% to 100%, thinking you certify medically. Tens of thousands of policy owners have currently taken advantage of these new plans issued by the largest and also highest possible ranked insurance companies in the world.

  The Wall Road Journal just recently advised that hundreds of older Universal Life insurance policy policies are stopping working as a result of Life insurance policy companies having credited a lot lower interest rates over the years than they initially predicted when these policies were initial bought. This rate of interest shortage leaves the policy proprietor responsible for unplanned-for cash-value shortages as well as plan expenditures. These variables identify how much time the plan will last based on the original non-guaranteed scheduled costs. A lot of these supposed long-term policies go through very early gap despite the fact that the plan owner had been paying his billed "scheduled premium" every single year. It's all too usual that neither the original representative that offered the plan neither the life insurance company ever put in the time to educate the policy owner about the reality that the supposed "scheduled premium" they've been paying all these years was based on presumptions that failed to materialize. Because of this, thousands of policy proprietors who expected to maintain the policy effective up until the insured's death have been obtaining gap notices when the insureds go to innovative ages with medical conditions that avert them from any sensible economic choices. On top of that, if the most awful takes place and also a policy lapses, its demise can lead to a huge tax obligation revenue tax costs to the policy proprietor.

Juan Antonio Nino

Thankfully, many older insureds have the ability to take advantage of their relatively health integrated with the money worth in their old policies and our physician-directed clinical underwriting to get the very same protection at a much reduced price. To address these really severe issues, we offer you with the complying with 3 of The 7 Keys to Saving 50% to 100% on your Life Insurance Prices:

  1. Exactly how to Double your Life Insurance Survivor Benefit at the Very Same Expense, Guaranteed. A large number of top rated life insurance companies are currently using surefire costs Universal Life insurance items with innovative premium repayment methods that can in fact increase an insureds death benefit at the very same initial outlay, presuming they qualify medically. These new Guaranteed Universal Life insurance policy policies are a lot more competitively priced as well as have much more powerful warranties than older Whole Life and also Universal Life plans.

  A 67 years of age husband and wife had an old Last-To-Die policy with a non-guaranteed death benefit of $1,200,000 at a $13,625 yearly expense. Their new plan had actually an ensured death benefit of $1,825,000, a 51% rise in survivor benefit, at a $6,000 yearly investment, a reduction of 56% in price. The brand-new plan was ensured to their age 100 by one of the highest possible rated and also best insurance provider in America.

  Their older policy had a so-called mix of Term Insurance coverage as well as Whole Life to keep the total original death benefit. Most individuals are not aware of the fact that the Term Insurance part of their Whole Life insurance policy is not assured. The cost of this term part can be enhanced by the parent business anytime the business really feels the product is not rewarding sufficient.

  2. Making Use Of a Doctor Directed Medical Financing technique regularly accomplishes the very best possible insurer scores, leading to the most affordable feasible expense. The ordinary life insurance representative normally sends your application to just 1 or 2 insurer as well as merely waits as well as expects the very best underwriting deal. Life Insurance agents don't usually have any kind of real resources to make a distinction in the vibrant procedure of medically underwriting your danger. Numerous representatives usually turn over the duty of purchasing your personal medical records to the insurer themselves, which is the most awful point they can do for their customer, for lots of reasons. Since Medical professionals are currently so terrified of possible lawsuits, they routinely jot down every little thing in your medical file including from another location suspected as well as commonly unverified medical concerns. In this manner, if a significant medical problem creates in the future with among their people who might be the litigious kind, they have a created document to protect themselves. Sadly, this "write everything down as well as cover yourself" strategy with today's medication causes numerous difficulties for older people that make an application for life insurance. The issue is that when they obtain life insurance policy, insurer search their clinical documents for search phrases in their clinical documents like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetic issues, high blood pressure, stroke and cancer. Even when the medical problem was simply presumed and also ended up being absolutely nothing, insurance provider regularly rate you up as well as bill you a higher costs.

Active capital holding

The much better method to underwrite is to have a medical professional get and also review each of your clinical records before they go to the insurer. If something remains in your records where your doctor greater than likely wrote something to "cover themselves", the doctor will personally call the physician to confirm his uncertainty. If it was, as a matter of fact, a Cover Yourself product, which it typically is, he will ask your Physician send a comply with up letter to the insurance provider which properly describes the concern away. This kind of "hands on" clinical underwriting technique acquires regularly low costs from Life insurance policy business.

  In addition to your medical documents being assessed, an insurance policy physical is finished by a physician at your home. Usually you should do this physical very first point in the early morning, due to the fact that you have to quick for 8 hrs prior to the test as well as you are the most tranquil early in the early morning.

  After these steps are complete, don't relate to only 1 or 2 insurance provider, your complete clinical package and also insurance coverage examination must go to the 10 greatest ranked insurance provider that focus on reduced expense, guaranteed life insurance policy policies. Today, Life insurance policy firms are rather willing to contend for your business. Out of the 10 business, frequently 1 or 2 will give a better medical score than the various other firms. This converts right into the lowest feasible investment for you.

  For example, a 65 year old lately applied for $2 million of life insurance policy that had a variety of wellness concerns that included a background of cancer as well as handicap. The most effective underwriting deal he had actually gotten was a "Criterion". Nonetheless, one more insurance company that had actually originally offered him Basic agreed to a make an Organisation Choice and provide him a "Preferred" health ranking. His brand-new insurance survivor benefit enhanced by 80%, and his costs lowered by 45%, on an assured basis to his age 100, with among the largest as well as highest ranked companies in America.

  3. Just how to pay $0 premiums for your life insurance. Many of our high net worth customers who have actually lost much of their net worth and also revenue in this financial decline have actually a lowered need for the life insurance policy they got. Some have actually made use of the Life Negotiation Marketplace to sell their policy for cash as opposed to just surrendering their insurance coverage for its money surrender value.

  Most people are not aware of an exciting new sort of Life Settlement Program that just a few firms offer: The Shared Survivor Benefit Program. Via this Shared Death Benefit Program, the customer gets to maintains half of their survivor benefit for their family and also never ever has to pay any longer premiums. The buyer pays all the future costs for as lengthy as you live, and also they reach keep half the survivor benefit when you die for paying all future costs.

  A 72 years of age lady had a 5 million dollar insurance coverage as well as due to the fact that her net worth as well as earnings dropped so drastically, she determined she only required to maintain half of her $5,000,000 policy. Her insurer provided her a compensated policy of $1,600,000 without more premiums. The Shared Death Benefit program offered her a totally compensated $2,500,000 paid up plan, without any more costs for as lengthy as she lives.

  Craig Kirsner, MBA is offering his new Free Unique Report "7 Keys to Saving 50% to 100% on your Life Insurance Policy, Guaranteed", which also reveals exactly how you can save a lot of money utilizing our Life Expectancy Insurance Policy Prices. To receive your complimentary report, telephone call 1-800-807-5558, extension 103 or email Craig at StuartPlanning dot com

  Craig is a published author who at the end of 2005 composed a book precisely warning that we had actually just passed the top of the property market, and that economic downturn would certainly follow the decrease in realty market value. He received his Masters In Company Management from the Chapman School at Florida International College, concentrating on Finance. He was among the leading grads in his course and also was inducted right into the Beta Gamma Sigma Company Honor Society.

  Craig obtained his undergraduate degree from the College of Florida with a dual significant in Financing and Threat Monitoring.

  Craig is really energetic in several public teams as well as charities and in 2006 was called Hands On Miami's "Volunteer of the Year".

  Copyright Stuart Estate Preparation 2009. All Rights Reserved. *** Please note: This details and also the corresponding sites do not comprise professional solutions, consisting of, yet not restricted to financial investment or lawful advice. Please consult an accounting professional, financial investment specialist and/or attorney before carrying out any technique.

[brianwarden]

Gad the Islamophobe

I recently listened to an episode of Sam Harris's excellent podcast "Waking Up" that featured as his guest Gad Saad, someone who's own podcast is another favorite of mine; I highly recommend both. Both Harris and Saad are academics/scientists/public figures who are highly critical of recent trends regarding free speech, postmodernism, tolerance, political correctness, and “regressive leftism”.

 That term, which I first heard used by Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz, refers to those ostensibly on the left, that often engage in regressive tactics, principally anti free speech bullying. Regressives are in the vanguard of extreme political correctness, commonly complaining about "cultural appropriation", the wage gap, patriarchy, Islamophobia, etc. For instance, in many a college campus it has become common for regressive's to target visiting speakers, show up at the event, and attempt to silence said speaker. This is often done by blocking entrance to the event, harassing attendees, rushing the stage, and in more than one instance, pulling fire alarms.

 So I am a big fan of Harris and Saad, as well as their comrades in arms Christine Hoff Sommers, Dave Rubin, Joe Rogan, Bill Maher, Sarah Haider, Jon Haidt, and several others. I consider myself a liberal, but am embarrassed by what many of the same label are currently doing: silencing opposing views, demonizing all white men, creating safe spaces, trigger warnings, and micro aggressions; what I prefer to call the PC left. I guess I meet the definition of a classical liberal, of the John Stuart Mill mold, but the semantics of political labels have become very muddled lately.

 As hinted above, I'm not a fan of the term "Islamophobia". Not that I think it's a meaningless term, just that it's over used to the point of becoming virtually meaningless. Any criticism of Islam is characterized as Islamophobic by the regressive left, even the most obvious. E.g. criticisms of Islam's treatment of women or gays are labeled Islamophobia, even by feminists and gays within the regressive left. A legitimate usage of the term Islamophobia, in my view, would be towards someone who refers to “ragheads” or “sand n**gers” or wants to turn the entire Middle East in to glass or prohibit all immigration from countries with a Muslim majority; that's Islamophobia, no question. All I'm saying is that the term is thrown around a lot.

 As in the case of the term homophobia, the "phobia" part isn't precisely accurate. The definition of a phobia is "an extreme or irrational fear of, or aversion to something." Most homophobes aren't actually scared of gays, they just hate them. Same for Islamophobia, except with Islam there is an element of fear; terrorism is real, and its biggest practitioners presently are Muslim.

 Harris himself has often been (mis)labeled as an Islamophobe and even a bigot, but these charges are without merit. I've read all of his books and essays, listened to every podcast, watched countless videos, and have never yet heard a single comment that could be accurately described as bigoted. He's as harsh towards Christianity as he is towards Islam.

 Until I listened to his podcast entitled "The Frontiers of Political Correctness" I would've said the same of Saad. Saad's own personal story is very interesting and gives his views and opinions some weight. "I was born in Lebanon, I grew up in Lebanon, so my mother tongue is Arabic, we're Arabic in a multiplicity of ways...some of the music we listen to, and the foods, and if you saw us you wouldn’t know that we were anything but Arabic, the only asterisk is that we are Lebanese Jews" (40:55).

 He states he has over 100 Muslim friends. Later, he claims that in his neighborhood, if he encounters 20 women, 8 will be wearing Islamic garb. In Montreal. "I could walk out of my house, and of the first twenty women I see, eight are wearing Islamic garb" (1:21:30). (I call bullshit. 40% of the women he encounters in Montreal are Muslim?)

 But where he gets real bizarre, and makes Rush Limbaugh seem tolerant, is when he describes an incident that occurred while out with his family:

 "Close to my house, we tried to go to a children's park, and saw two women in full burka, my daughter got out, felt a bit scared, we got back in the car and left" (1:21:00).

 Covered faces are indeed to some extent frightening. Armed robbers in ski masks, clowns, ninjas, little old Korean ladies hiding their skin from UV, KKK hoods, soldiers lined up all in gas masks; all scary looking, no question. But flee the park in fear?

 Is there some right, some principle of liberty, that entitles one to gaze in to the face of all fellow citizens in order to better read them and their intentions? As Harris wisely responds, perhaps on private property one has such a right, say a 7-11 owner in reaction to someone in a ski mask. Absolutely, I agree completely. But out on the streets, in a public park? No way. No such right has ever existed in the West, nor do I know of anyone ever proposing such an idea.

 But Gad's daughters’ reaction at the playground leads me to wonder just what the fuck is Gad telling his kids at home? I mean, worse-case scenario, there is a Muslim male under the burka, right? What would be his families’ reaction if there were Muslim males there at the park, perhaps even taking prayer? Flee?

 It is not an overstatement, nor PC in the slightest, to state that Gad Saad and his family are literally Islamophobic, to the point that genuine fear, and flight, occurs when spotting Muslims. Never mind that he previously said, "Your chances of dying by murder in Canada is unbelievably small" (52:15). This is certainly true. In all of Canada, there were 19 violent acts towards Jews in 2014, the most current year for stats, resulting in zero deaths; yet, an average of 9.5 people die each year in Canada by lightning strikes.

 He also said several other things during the podcast that are troublesome to say the least. For example, he revisits this traumatic trip to the park, and expands on his theory of a “right to see [people’s faces]”:

 "If your position is that, no, let's not intrude on their right to quote choose, I actually think that my right to be able to read your facial features, since that's an evolved quality, in my communication system, supersedes your right to be in a tent, and if you want to be in a tent you don't belong here because I want to be, when I walk to that school yard, not school yard, but play park, and there were two, I'm guessing women but they could be anything right, I can't tell who they are, and they were in black and we all froze, and I come from that land [Lebanon] and my daughter got scared and we got back in the car, then my rights lost there. And therefore, no, I don't think we should allow that expression. No, I don't want that in my streets" [emphasis added] (1:42:05).

 Perhaps it’s good Gad resides in Canada. That viewpoint regarding religious expression won’t fly in the states. His right to read faces? Because the ability to read faces evolved in humans, it’s now a right? That’s not how we set out rights. Later, he seems to be claiming that he simply can’t prevent himself from stereotyping and acting on it:

 "No one probably knows more nice and decent Muslims, probably no one has more Muslim friends than I do by virtue of my background, so obviously at the individual level there's no discussion to be had, there are very nice Muslims, there are very bad Muslims, we're talking here about statistical regularity's, right, our brains have evolved to detect statistical regularity's [stereotypes], I mean that's a central feature in the architecture of the human mind” (51:29).

 Or check out this gem from the “Gadfather”:

 "There's a game that I satirize, but frankly the satire is very accurate, it's called 'Six Degrees of Kill the Jew' and the game works as follows: so basically, the way the game works is, Achmed comes to the room, I say hello to him, how many exchanges does it take before we converge - especially since I speak Arabic and therefore he certainly doesn't know I'm Jewish - before we both converge on 'let's go kill the Jews'. And the reality is, this is how it typically goes: 'Hi Achmed, how are you? Fine, let's kill the Jews’" (1:13:40).

 Then, a minute later, he admits the above stereotype is mythical: "Of the top 100 Muslims that I know, every single one of them is a lovely guy that doesn't fill the 'kill-the-Jews' stereotype, but that doesn't say anything about the greater issue" (1:15:00).

 He seems to have some issues. He is simultaneously claiming: the odds of being murdered in Canada are “unbelievably small”; that his family is not outwardly Jewish looking, “if you saw us you wouldn't know that we were anything but Arabic”; that he knows lots of Muslims and none of them are anti-Semitic; yet, if burkas are spotted, FLEE!

 In the novel Infinite Jest, there’s an organization called U.H.I.D., the Union of the Hideously and Improbably Deformed, an agnostic-style 12-step support-group deal for what it calls the “aesthetically challenged.” It’s a hilarious portion of the book, with a pretty absurd premise, and is milked for some great laughs*. But beyond this comedic “donning of the veil” is a more serious issue, albeit one most of us haven’t considered. Does one have a right to hide one’s face?

 Although it’s not enumerated in the Bill of Rights, I believe a person has the right to cover their face in public. For any reason whatsoever. I see little old ladies covering themselves out of fear of sunlight. I see germaphobic people wearing masks out of fear of germs. And, of course, religious people doing what their religion tells them, or what they interpret their religion to be telling them. Given the extreme importance the Founding Fathers put on religious liberty and expression, I think those values trump anyone’s desire to read faces.

 I tried to raise this subject with the man himself, via twitter, and was quickly attacked, by Gad as well as many of his followers. He used his stock insult on me, “naturally lobotomized castrati”, and mocked my curiosity on the matter. E.g. I wrote that I found his family’s reaction to seeing burkas “baffling”; he responds with: “It is ‘baffling’ why it would be jarring to see individuals wearing black tents in a play ground with hidden identities”. He goes on: “Clearly, only ‘racist bigots’ would be concerned about such an ostentatious display of openness and warmth.” Thou doth protest too much.

 In the wake of Charlottesville, I’m noticing something quite alarming: many of the folks that I considered to be basically liberals, but have a major problem with the PC left, are not liberal at all; they’re as conservative as Rush Limbaugh and just enjoy mocking and ridiculing campus snowflakes. The reaction to Harris’ tweet of August 13th, regarding white identity politics, exposed many of these folks. I don’t put Gad in the category of Limbaugh, but he’s got a dark side that’s for sure.

 ___________________________________________

  * “Well Mr. Gately what people don’t get about being hideously or improbably deformed is that the urge to hide is offset by a gigantic sense of shame about your urge to hide. You’re at a graduate wine-tasting party and improbably deformed and you’re the object of stares that the people try to conceal because they’re ashamed of wanting to stare, and you want nothing more than to hide from the covert stares, to erase your difference, to crawl under the tablecloth or put your face under your arm, or you pray for a power failure and for this kind of utter liberating equalizing darkness to descend so you can be reduced to nothing but a voice among other voices, invisible, equal, no different, hidden.

 But Don you’re still a human being, you still want to live, you crave connection and society, you know intellectually that you’re no less worthy of connection and society than anyone else simply because of how you appear, you know that hiding yourself away out of fear of gazes is really giving in to a shame that is not required and that will keep you from the kind of life you deserve as much as the next girl, you know that you can’t help how you look but that you are supposed to be able to help how much you care about how you look. You’re supposed to be strong enough to exert some control over how much you want to hide, and you’re so desperate to feel some kind of control that you settle for the appearance of control. What you do is you hide your deep need to hide, and you do this out of the need to appear to other people as if you have the strength not to care how you appear to others. You stick your hideous face right in there into the wine-tasting crowd’s visual meatgrinder, you smile so wide it hurts and put out your hand and are extra gregarious and outgoing and exert yourself to appear totally unaware of the facial struggles of people who are trying not to wince or stare or give away the fact that they can see that you’re hideously, improbably deformed. You feign acceptance of your deformity. You take your desire to hide and conceal it under a mask of acceptance. In other words you hide your hiding. And you do this out of shame: you’re ashamed of the fact that you want to hide from sight. You’re ashamed of your uncontrolled craving for shadow. U.H.I.D.’s First Step is admission of powerlessness over the need to hide. U.H.I.D. allows members to be open about their essential need for concealment. In other words we don the veil. We don the veil and wear the veil proudly and stand very straight and walk briskly wherever we wish, veiled and hidden, and but now completely up-front and unashamed about the fact that how we appear to others affects us deeply, about the fact that we want to be shielded from all sight. U.H.I.D. supports us in our decision to hide openly. But a lot of the forms of self-hatred there is no veil for. U.H.I.D.’s taught a lot of us to be grateful that there’s at least a veil for our form.”

 “So the veil’s a way to not hide it.?”

 “To hide openly, is more like it.”

 From Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

[NOTE: I fully realize there is a false equivalence between the people featured in the attached pic and two burka clad women at a playground; the point is, all the people in the pic are violating Gad’s imaginary right to read faces. (Btw, the woman in full burka is Janet Jackson and son.)]