A collection of stuff I saved from Facebook, courtesy of Snipping Tool. If only this were true! Then it might be a little more difficult for governments to sell people wars. In my usual way of getting sucked into Facebook trends that I dislike, I created this card because I
Continue readingTag: human rights
wmtc: why is "entitled" a dirty word? some thoughts on what we are all entitled to.
When did “entitled” become a dirty word? Why do we hear “entitled” being used as catch-all slur, a derogatory description to be thrown at progressive people working for change? And why should we permit this word to retain such a heavily negative connotation? Here are some people I have seen
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Right Response to “No Job Is A Bad Job”
Last May federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said there was no such thing as a bad job. The Law Commission of Ontario may disagree. This week it put out a report about the rise in vulnerable workers and precarious jobs. Now that he’s heard from executives who think Canadians are
Continue readingwmtc: rest in peace: jack layton after passage of historic 2008 motion on iraq war resisters
In a few days, on August 22, it will be the one-year anniversary of Jack Layton’s untimely death. I want to share one my most enduring memories of Jack. It took place in Parliament, in June of 2008, although not on the floor of the House of Commons.
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: The Cross is Boss: Marois 1, Frontwoodsers 0
As a proud fifth-generation anglo Québecker de souche, properly baptised by the Plymouth Trinity United Church of Sherbrooke, I must take a moment here to salute Parti-Québecois leader Pauline Marois for her bold statement pledging to keep my belle province the rightful Backwoods capital of North America. Because here in
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: The Cross is Boss: Marois 1, Frontwoodsers 0
As a proud fifth-generation anglo Québecker de souche, properly baptised by the Plymouth Trinity United Church of Sherbrooke, I must take a moment here to salute Parti-Québecois leader Pauline Marois for her bold statement pledging to keep my belle province the rightful Backwoods capital of North America. Because here in
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: The Cross is Boss: Marois 1, Frontwoodsers 0
As a proud fifth-generation anglo Québecker de souche, properly baptised by the Plymouth Trinity United Church of Sherbrooke, I must take a moment here to salute Parti-Québecois leader Pauline Marois for her bold statement pledging to keep my belle province the rightful Backwoods capital of North America.
Because here in Quebec, backwoods is where it’s at. And to underline that, Marois spent time on the campaign trail today defending her party’s proposal to secularize the province’s civil servants’ appearance, lest it offend the non-believers of whatever faith is projected by the bearer’s attire (sacred or not).
Unless, of course, the bearer’s faith happens to be Christianity (the “good”, or at least, “officially-sanctioned” faith, apparently).
Bravo, I say. I mean, I don’t know about you, but when I go down to the S.A.A.Q. to renew my driver’s license, the last thing I want to see is a fully-bilingual, smiling civil servant wearing a Scottish kilt. I don’t want to think about what’s behind that Sporran, thank you very much. There is nothing Catholic about the Scots, after all.
And it’s not just them, but those snooty Saudi-Arabian immigrant women – you know, the ones who aren’t even allowed to drive in their country of origin – but when they come here to pursue a better life pursuant to the United Nations declaration of Universal Human Rights, think they can go on following their Muslim faith and shit anyway. I mean, come on!
And I suppose there are other creeds with their ceremonial daggers and headscarves and other horrifyingly provocative faith-based attire. I just shudder to think. I mean, where did these Muslim people get the idea to have their women-folk cover up their hair with cloth anyway?
It’s just so …barbaric. I mean, really, how dare these carefully selected immigrants wear their headscarves and whatnot once they arrive here, just like they did their whole lives in their some-such places of origin? Why can’t they understand they can never become a true Québecois until they completely lay themselves down and take the holy ghost up the wazoo like the rest of us all did from the time ol’ Samuel de Champlain put his two fingers together in 1609 and whistled across the pond for La Vieille France to fork over a few hundred God-fearing Filles du Roi (yowza!).
Now that, my friends, was an inspired immigration policy. See, this is why it’s so important to wrest that from Ottawa. Oh, wait, I suppose that’s already happened. Shhh! Don’t tell them that until AFTER the election.
(ahem)
Seriously, any Péquiste with the slightest bit of self-respect – or respect for their visionary founder, Rene Levesque, and his strong sense of democracy – should be voting for either Solidarité Québec, or Option Québec. The PQ has gone so Backwoods, the only sound their pollsters will hear is the distinctive August buzz of mosquitoes and blackflies.
Continue readingwmtc: canadian health care professionals still protesting cuts to refugee health care
Canadian doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals continue to mention refugee health care at every public media opportunity. In this case, a student nurse takes advantage of Lisa Raitt’s appearance at KidSport to remind the Government that Olympic medal-winning wrestler Carol Huynh came to Canada as a refugee –
Continue readingwmtc: dispatches from post-racial america: stop-and-frisk on a national level
Remember when Barack Obama was elected, how international media declared that racism in the US had been vanquished? How academics and pundits started using the term “post-racial” to describe US culture? Was that before or after the tea-partiers paraded around with pictures of monkeys and openly called for assassination? Before
Continue readingwmtc: now at summerworks in toronto: the hearing of jeremy hinzman
If you’re in Toronto, you have a unique opportunity to hear the voices of war resisters as you have never heard them before. The Foundry Theatre Company has taken the transcripts of Jeremy Hinzman’s hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board, and statements by members of the War Resisters Support
Continue readingwmtc: please sign daniel ellsberg’s petition to free bradley manning
Daniel Ellsberg, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Bradley Manning Support Network are asking for our help. Please sign the petition to free Bradley Manning, and share it as widely as you can.
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Harper Determined to Erase Pierre Trudeau From Public Consciousness
No doubt, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are determined to create a Canadian nationalism that is both socially conservative and loyal to the British Empire. Their key strategy is to radically revise history and suppress certain moments that do not identify with past Conservative leaders. This penchant for naked revisionism
Continue readingwmtc: rtod: extremism normalized
Revolutionary thought of the day: Remember when, in the wake of the 9/11 attack, the Patriot Act was controversial, held up as the symbolic face of Bush/Cheney radicalism and widely lamented as a threat to core American liberties and restraints on federal surveillance and detention powers? Yet now, the Patriot
Continue readingwmtc: ten years too long: bring omar khadr back to canada
Today marks 10 years since Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, then 15 years old, was picked up in Afghanistan. For an entire decade, he has lived in prison, first in Bagram, then in the US concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay. He lives in solitary confinement, which is recognized internationally as a
Continue readingwmtc: penn state sanctions: justice for – and by – survivors
I spent some time last night reading reaction to the sanctions against Penn State University set out by the NCAA. (I should qualify that: I was reading the reactions of intelligent, compassionate people. I don’t need to read anything written by people who care more about football than child sexual
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Why Boy Scouts of America is allowed to discriminate: Comparing US and Canadian human rights laws
I recently expressed outrage over the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to continue banning members who were LGBT or atheists/agnostics. Ideally, groups like BSoA would be able to figure out for themselves that this homophobic and discriminatory policy is not acceptable. But there is also a legal question as to
Continue readingwmtc: onboard the tahrir, now with video
I’ve updated my recent post, “onboard the tahrir: ‘our course is the conscience of humanity. our final destination is the betterment of mankind.’” to correct a few factual errors. I also added this video, which you might want to watch, whether or not you appreciated that post. The sight of
Continue readingwmtc: romeo dallaire says: bring omar khadr back to canada
Change.org|How to Start a Petition I was surprised and pleased to see Roméo Dallaire’s name associated with the campaign to repatriate Omar Khadr. I hope it helps. It’s hard to believe Omar Khadr is still being held in Guantanamo Bay. It’s hard to believe that the concentration camp at Guantanamo
Continue reading350 or bust: TED Talk Thursday: How To Set Goals…For The World
Jamie Drummond co-founded the advocacy organization ONE (Bono is another co-founder), which is focused on ending extreme poverty and the AIDS epidemic. In this inspiring June 2012 TED Talk, Mr. Drummond discusses the UN Millennium Development Goals: In 2000, the UN laid out 8 goals to make the world better
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Why Omar Khadr still matters
A decade after a wounded Omar Khadr, a then fifteen year old Canadian citizen, decided to lob a fatal grenade in the middle of a firefight in Afghanistan, Ottawa is still dragging its feet on finally repatriating Khadr back to Canada from Guantanamo Bay where he is currently detained. Khadr’s
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