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Stresses in multiculturalism focus of diversity symposium

By Maclean Kay
Writer
Troy Media Corporation

CALGARY, AB, September 29/Troy Media/ – Canadians’ reputation for being too polite often comes across as simply being dishonest, according to a junior high and adult English-as-a-Second-Language teacher in Calgary.

Kate Franks, who works with newcomers from countries and cultures from around the world, said the level of tact is so high in Canada that often her students don’t find Canadians to be forthright. That translates into being dishonest, she said, not in the literal sense but, by trying too hard to be polite, it accomplishes the same thing.

“I’ve seen websites run by recent immigrants to Canada listing bad experiences here,” she said. The comments “discourage others from choosing Canada as a place to relocate.”

Canadians so prize their reputation as accommodating, welcoming and above all, tolerant, she said, that some may not want to hear what some recent immigrants have to say. That lack of feedback, on everything from personal space to facial expressions, leads to both confusion and a disinterest in bridging cultures.

Dan Shapiro, a research associate with the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, agrees.

“It actually shows much greater respect to offer sincere criticisms, when cultural disagreements occur,” Shapiro said, “than to say nothing – or worse, to assume that behaviour you find inadequate is all you can expect from certain groups.” That, he added, is the very definition of patronizing, and is far more insulting than a well-intended critique.  

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The usual: break the law, kills the Jews…

October is Islamic History Month.

As BlazingCatFur explains:

In the interest of “understanding”, BCL checked out the website for Canadian Islamic History Month, took the quiz (and kept the screen shots for posterity):

No mention of the fact that polygamy is illegal in Canada.

Wow, how’s that for understanding, strength and cohesion?  

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Hardline clerics said that further attacks would be “inevitable” if publication of the novel, The Jewel of Medina, goes ahead as planned next month.

Police moved in to arrest three men moments after a fire broke out at the London home and office of Martin Rynja in the early hours of Saturday.

(…)

But the radical cleric Anjem Choudhary said the book was an insult to the Prophet Mohammed’s honour, something he said would warrant a “death penalty” under Sharia law.

Which, as we all know, now has legal standing in Britain.

“People should be aware of the consequences they might face when producing material like this. They should know the depth of feeling it might provoke.”

He denied any involvement in the attack but said he “understood” the feelings of the perpetrators.

“If the publication goes ahead then I think, inevitably, there will be more attacks like this – this is the thin of the wedge,” he said.

Speaking from Lebanon, the radical cleric Omar Bakri, added: “If anybody attacks that man I cannot myself condemn it.”

Think it can’t happen here?

The two most famous Muslim leaders in Canada have called for writers to be jailed if they insult Mohammed the child molester.

Ask your candidate about that when they knock on your door. I promise you they won’t know anything about that, or will pretend not to.  

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The publisher writes:

More than 300 people have taken the trouble this month to complain to the CBC ombudsman about a column we ran on CBCNews.ca about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Sept. 5.

(…)

Mallick’s column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan.

And because it is all those things, this column should not have appeared on the CBCNews.ca site.

(…)

Ombudsman Carlin makes another significant observation in his response to complainants: when it does choose to print opinion, CBCNews.ca displays a very narrow range on its pages.

In this, Carlin is also correct.

This, too, is being immediately addressed. CBCNews.ca will soon expand the diversity of voices and opinions and be home to a diverse group of writers with many perspectives. In this, we will better reflect the depth and texture of this country.

We erred in our editorial judgment. You told us in no uncertain terms. And we have learned from it.

Of course, he misses one crucial point:

He fails to mention that his organization is supported almost entirely by my extorted tax dollars, and those of millions of Canadians.

He takes the existence of his organizations for granted.

I’d advise him not to do so…

Hmmmmm…

I studiously ignore Truffles the Hobbit, but one of his recent excretions just came to my attention, and — seriously — it deserves to be enshrined forever in some kind of museum that hasn’t been invented yet.

He writes:

The hardest part about selling Mr. Dion was his English. Sometimes I argued that it wasn’t as bad as people said, but that never really worked. The key to dealing with that complaint was simple – this is Canada. We don’t vote against people because French is their first language! That is not the country we want to live in and our people on TV need to remind other Canadians of that on a regular basis.

Good God, where to start?

Liberals really believe that if they just “argue” loudly and long-ly enough, that we poor plebes will see the tragic error of our ways, i.e., relying upon the evidence of our senses and our lived experience to make decisions, and not upon this week’s Received Liberal Wisdom talking points.

People in Jason’s rarified world may not “vote against people because French is their first language”, but it’s pretty commonplace where I come from (and with good reason), where utterances such as “let ‘em separate or shut up already” are considered commonsensical and not treasonous. But of course, I’m just a stupid hick who didn’t go to law school then become a nakedly ambitious if none too swift party hack…  

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Binky is all fired up!

Lots and lots to read, including his tribute to the principal of a Christian school in Regina who wrestled a gun away from a student:

This guy is a real man. This is his school. Not as in ‘homo sapiens’ or having the right anatomy, but as in doing the right thing for all of us perhaps at the cost of his own life. Such courage is not politically correct, nor represented in most of the media except by caricature. And in a culture of malleable character where backing off and covering your ass is king, manliness seems a bit.. risky. Such is gutless minionism. We have been in a cultural war against men and boys for some time– check your divorce courts, educational system, abortion practice, and pop culture.

Of course, that principal might have hoped for the police to save the day, we all know what could have awaited them– 45 minutes later when they actually got into the school. Sorry about the shooter’s no doubt unfortunate childhood, but [judgemental words ahead] evil cannot be allowed its will because of other past evils. The shooter had to be stopped, period. Killed, if necessary, to prevent greater evils. Freedom costs, and the lives and freedom of the kids in that High School were more precious than gold or gems.  

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My good friends at the aptly named RAGE Media have new political t-shirts on offer.

For instance, they’ve got a great looking “support the troops” design, featuring one of my favourite WW2 images, and this Chesterton quote on the back:

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

He writes:

Mallick’s defence [of her taxpayer funded, anti-Sarah Palin ad hominem] is one of freedom of speech.

Yet last year I was approached by the editor of a newspaper called The Women’s Post and asked if I would write a column for her, providing what publisher Sarah Thomson called “a conservative voice.” She explained that she already had plenty of liberal writers but wanted some balance.

One of those left-wing writers employed by The Women’s Post was Mallick. When she heard about me being offered a column she became extraordinarily angry and threatened to resign. The good people at The Women’s Post called the enraged journalist’s bluff and it was goodbye to our control freak comrade. So when Mallick’s defenders cry about unfettered expression and the right to offend they ought to know of whom they speak.

Readers have been shopping away through my Amazon.com links:

PLUS:

someone made a huge John McCain yard sign etc purchase through my CafePress ads!

You guys are the greatest. Thanks again.

Regular readers must be getting sick of me plugging Howard Hawk’s The Thing From Another World, which is the conservative “answer” to the more famous, raving liberal “let’s ask the UN what to do!!” flick The Day The Earth Stood Still, released the same year.

But so what?

The Thing is one of the greatest movies ever.

Now, TrailersFromHell has the, er, trailer:

Jay writes:

Bottom line is that the CBC and the Globe and Mail and the Liberal Party could not acknowledge that a Liberal candidate had been taken down by a weird coalition of lefty (Dawg), neutral, (Black Rod) and apparently righty (me, Kate, Kathy, Free Dominion and the rest of you scoundrels) bloggers.

So they had to invent the idea that the [Canadian Jewish Congress] was driving the action. Kids, the CJC found out about Ms. Hughes because the Lying Jackal smelt death in the air. Left to their own devices those fearless Nazi hunters would not have found Hughes. Ever. The Jackal earned his keep.

The CBC and the Globe and Mail hate being killed on a story. They were killed here even though a Globe and Mail reporter had called the Hughes HQ before I did. Making the best of a bad situation they have thrown the credit to the CJC…. tough nuggies Dawg and Black Rod. At least you made it into the Post.

What the Hughes story is actually about is laziness. A lazy Liberal Party which cannot be bothered to vet its candidates and a lazy national media which cannot do the most basic invesitgation.

My posts took a total of half an hour. From work. MSM – Google is your friend. Use it.

My thoughts?

The entire Canadian Establishment is total bullshit.  

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