Conflicted

On the political spectrum, I admit I'm a little left leaning with the odd inclination to the right, and am still an innocent in the world despite what I know about the capacity of humans to destroy other humans. People I know state their concern for Canada and the influx of certain immigrants and their impact on our society. Some people I know are very anti-Muslim. Some make a distinction and say they're anti-Islam. Some state their concern that the Christian way of life is much threatened.

I believe in "live and let live." In Canada, we live in a multi-cultural society which I like and am proud of. Thanks to our open doors, I've come to know so many more people than plain old white English-speaking people like myself. I know one Muslim and was very impressed by his openness, behaviour and beliefs. He lives his own life his own way and does not impose his beliefs on me or others yet openly answers any questions I may have. I know a few Jewish people, and can say the same for them too. I know some Catholics, Protestants, aetheists, Bahai's, Lutherans, and more, and can say the same for them too. I know French, English, Polish, Italian, American, British, Cuban, Irish, Ukranian, Australian, Indian, Persian and people from more other countries...they too are the same. The majority of people I know try to live their lives and live within their own religions if they have one. There are always those who try to impose their beliefs on others but I find them everywhere and in every group. So long as they do it non-violently, that's ok by me.

It's rational to feel threatened given what happened at the twin towers and the many other horrible killing and fearful events since. I try to understand the things coming at me in the world that shake up my utopian view.

For example, Pat Condell, a comedian, is known for his rants, not necessarily funny either. I've listened to two of his rants, trying to keep an open mind. He referred in one of his rants to a short film made in 2008 called "Fitna" by Geert Wilders a Dutch MP, which is causing all kinds of controversy in his homeland, and throughout the world. Is the video hate literature or a word of warning? It seemed easy enough to view yet the pages where you view it often get closed down so forces are definitely out there that do not want it seen.

The other side of the story is this rebuttal video which point by point negates the stance taken in the Fitna video. If you've come this far in reading, I trust you'll view both videos. I also found this article entitled Wilders Shore Of Free Speech Endangered by Kenan Malik in the Australian that discusses this but from the perspective of free speech.

Islamophobia. Anti-semitism. Racism. Sexism. Ageism. Homophobia. Secularism. There's an "ism" or "phobia" out there for everyone. And they are very heated, hot topics. Where do you stand?

I wonder, had we the internet back in the 1930's, how the world would have responded to the uprising of Nazism? Would our ability to communicate so instantaneously ultimately in some miraculous way have staved off the Holocaust and saved lives? Or would we be sitting much where we are today? Endlessly discussing, writing, opining, and finger pointing but still doing nothing? What is to be done?

I pray one day we'll all be more enlightened. I pray we'll find a way to help advance those whose beliefs are antiquated, unjust, unfair and harmful to others. Yes, I'm doing it. I'm doing what causes the conflicts in the first place. I'm saying my way is better. The modern way is better. I'm falling into the same old trap everyone does (I don't want to live your way, I want to live MY way!) which is why I despair for the dear old human race.

Hating to close this on a down note, I do state I am optimistic about humanity's future and our capacity to grow and change for the better, for we have proven it over time. And every new person I meet, no matter where they're from, no matter their culture, reinforces the idea we all just want to live peaceably. If this little blog has in any way made you reflect and reconsider your own stance on "isms" and "phobias", then I feel it's been worthwhile. Peace.

PS - it's highly likely some of the above links will change in time. If so, feel free to look further on your own.

I Am Harper

Sung to the tune of "I am Woman"
-Words and Music (and apologies to) by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton

I am Harper, hear me roar
My seats? Too many to ignore!
And I know too much to go back and pretend
cause I've heard it all before
Down there on the Commons floor
No one's ever gonna try to take me down again

CHORUS:
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
So Canada's paid the price
But I'd do it all again
If I have to, I can do anything
I am bilingue (bilingue); I am très partisan (partisan); I am Harper

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
To stay in power long, yes longer!
Still a bully, but less stronger
since coalition's burnt a hole deep in my soul

Oh yes I've screwed up big
But it never was my fault
Yes, Canuck's'll pay the price
But look how much I gained
Cuz I have to, I can face anything
I'm getting grey (grey); I wear my sweater (vest); I am Harper

CHORUS
I am Harper, watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
With Steph, Jack, Gilles and good old Mike Ignatieff
But I still run the PMO
With a long long way to go
Until I make Canadians understand


While the economy goes to Hell
I will quit, my dear Michaelle
If you don't prorogue the Commons when I say
I've bought time til January
When things will get even more scarey...
No, I'm not wrong (wrong); I'm not Obama (Obama); I am Harper!

I'm proud of Canada

This is about as blatantly political as I get. I find it ironic that 2 days after unanimously celebrating Canada's birthday, we're divided about celebrating Canada's choice to receive the Order of Canada.

The abortion issue has always been highly controversial and divisive in Canada, and I would add, throughout the world. Today, in Canada, people are reacting to the news that Henry Morgentaler, MD, has been named to the Order of Canada.

Some think it's an abomination, a day of shame for Canada. I think it's a day of pride for Canada and I congratulate those who decided Dr. Morgentaler merited this honour. Seldom does one see a person who puts himself and his family on the line for his beliefs.

I won't enter the discussion of when is a life a life and whether one has the right to take a life. I'm sure to get a few comments pro and con and I respect those who would argue with me.

I believe Dr. Morgentaler's work has saved lives. His work brought abortion out of the backstreets and into safe, clean clinics. His work has brought the word "abortion" into the open. It has been and will continue to be the source of much controversy and dispute, and his receiving the Order of Canada won't change that. But let it be a good thing as we, society, continue our evolution and our struggle in dealing with choices.

More on the story: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/02/f-morgentaler.html

What is the Order of Canada? http://www.gg.ca/honours/nat-ord/oc/index_e.asp

Northland's Minnie Sutherland©

You’re a goner, Minnie Sutherland,
perhaps were the day you were born.
Too late the System will determine
What happened the Eve of New Year’s Day and why,
Assign blame, and adjust its nuts and dolts.

It’s Hull. Dark. Bright. Promenade du Portage peppered with revelers.
Everyone intoxicated with life, with joy, with booze.
You, your cousin. Street cops, seat-belted nurses too?

What bitter irony, Minnie Blind,
a Nightingale should put out your lights.
You didn’t walk into a car, Minnie Cree, but into a stereotype.
Cop, unthinking, uncaring: “Maudite sauvage! Au cris!
Laissez-la dormir dans le neige.”[1]

Three men...a bridge...Ottawa, Minnie Femme Fatale,
conscious, unconscious,
is darkness, is light, your mind or the sky and stars?

Protectors: cruisered cop, street medic find, debate Minnie Hurt
Draped -- Society’s trophy -- on a cold cop car seat
Once briefly on a hood like a forty year old ornament.
Then…no siren, no hurry: Bright red lights:
U R G E N C E - E M E R G E N C Y
a slow recovery, Minnie Sick, Minnie Poor,
not so quick to bounce back
from New Year’s celebrations.

Thank God for strangers’ care.
But care’s not careful
When they
inadvertently
catheterize
your neck
and you drown
in your own
wonderful
Canadian
native
blood
Under arrest…cardiac arrest.

So…they’ll blame your cracked head, Minnie Dead.

But across this old, cold, vast North Land,
Everyone knows:
Natives
disappear or die sooner than
the Trespassers
who dilute brown skin
with white, with drink, with drugs, with attitude
Until you, Minnie Sutherland,
no longer
exist
at
all

But for your spirit.


[1] Damn squaw! Christ! Let her sleep if off in the snowbank.”
Related article
Unsolved murder (page down)
Book

Iron my shirt - a commentary

I'm usually the last one to comment on politics but...in a newsclip the other day, I couldn't help but think about the optics of a placard being waved at one of Hilary Clinton's rallies the other day. The placard read "Iron my shirt". Its meaning was clear. "Hey, woman, get back in the kitchen where you belong." Yeah, get back to your subservient role.

Of course, those days are long gone but the misogynist attitude of that placard-holder (of course, a man) was loud and clear. Get out of politics, woman! Well buddy, I hate to tell you but those days have been gone for eons. What cave have you been living in? Today's women are entering politics, not to be foot soldiers but to shoot for the highest positions, and if your type thinks different, well, you better stay home and learn to iron your own darn shirts!

I couldn't help but wonder about the optics and the commentators' reactions if that same guy with his same message had stood up in one of Barack Obama's rallies. He probably would have been pilloried for a racist message because it would have inferred "Hey, black man, get back to ironing the master's shirts." Yeah, get back to your subservient role. Both racism and sexism are on par in my opinion.

Ironic isn't it that such a sexist placard merely garnered a few raised eyebrows amongst commentators yet its negativity has had a positive effect on Ms Clinton's campaign. It was akin to waving a red flag in front of not just one bull but a sea of bulls...the female voters who may have been undecided. And the results are now in.

Cynic that I am, it makes me wonder: could Ms Clinton's campaigners been slick enough to have placed that negative placard to achieve such a positive reaction? It's not beyond the realm of possibility even though it flies in the face of all that is honourable and right.

What's easier to believe: that campaign leaders are smart enough to plant such a placard to reap the positive after-shock or that there are still such men out there who really do believe a woman's hand doesn't belong at the helm of power but on the handle of an iron? Somehow that we can consider both scenarios is a sad commentary of our times.