Michaëlle Jean vs. Sonia Sotomayor

Rex Murphy provides a fascinating analysis.

Gran Torino

Just saw Gran Torino - 3.5 stars - a subtle masterpiece - Highly recommended!

Why Official Multiculturalism Must End

I started writing a comment for this blog posting but then realized that I had more than a little to say. Here are my thoughts:

I don't have a problem with any particular group of people immigrating to any country in The West. What I do have a MAJOR problem with is the politically correct, multicultural, wishy-washy immigration agenda of the Radical Left.

As writers like Mark Steyn have frequently noted, "official multicultural policy" does not mean that we'll have a variety of diverse & interesting restaurants. No, the Official Multicultural Policies of The West assert that all cultures are equal and that no particular culture is any better or worse than another.

As often occurs with the policies dreamed up by the Radical Left, the longterm repercussions are not thought through. As a result, countries throughout the West now have large ghettos in their urban areas - some rich, most poor - of people predominately from one country and often of the same religion.

The language & signs throughout these ghettos is never of the host country. Any attempt to change this generates cries of racism, with often the loudest voices coming from the mainstream liberal media. The immigrant adults in these ghettos often never learn the language of the host country very well or at all. What incentive or purpose is there for them to do so? Most everything around them resembles the country where they came from. They can take their driving test in pretty much any language they wish. Every government agency guarantees them all interactions in their native language; the host country's language(s) are unimportant.

The young children of immigrants do mostly learn to converse in the host country's language(s). Though they often struggle in school in their early years. Since their parents can't read the schoolbooks, there is no support for them at home. Their teachers, while trying their best, struggle to teach the core material while propping up each immigrant student's basic communication skills. The core material always suffers, as does the entire education of their classmates whose parents are natives. Any attempts to change this dysfunctional system is met with cries of racism, with the loudest voices coming from Radical Left academic "experts".

As these kids get older they tend to hang out almost exclusively with others from their own cultural community. After their basic schooling it "suddenly" becomes apparent to them and to those aforementioned "experts" that:

• They have little understanding of the mainstream of the society in which hold a passport.
  
• They sometimes have very twisted views of their country's history and accomplishments.
• They have often have little to no loyalty of the country in which they're a citizen.
• If their academic skills are poor then they have no hope of getting a higher education.
• Mainstream employers, given a choice between hiring positive, well spoken native speakers and culturally dysfunctional applicants opt for the logical choice.
  

And what then happens? Frustration. Anger. Violence. Riots. Terrorism.

It is all so preventable: Replace multiculturalism with a strict melting pot strategy and insist that every young person take pride in the country in which they grow up - each & every day. Lo and behold, divisiveness will be replaced with cohesiveness. But the Radical Leftists who have infested government, academia, and the media will fight such a progressive change every step of the way.

Fact or Fiction?

"The only people who don't predominately vote along racial lines are white people of European origin."

U.S. Talk Show Host, Michael Savage
October 21, 2008

The Latest Canard from Obama Inc.

When the Obama War Room realized how the campaign had changed because of the Palin Effect, they strategized how to combat it. One tact was to get their endless supporters in the MSM to denigrate Sarah Palin with phony story after phony story in newspapers and TV.

That's bad enough, but now the most disgusting tactic of all is being used. Members of the media and more formal supporters are playing the race card:

• Jack Cafferty
• Barney Blakeney
• Governor Kathleen Sebelius
• Colin Benjamin
  

I've seen all of this before. It was an extremely successful tactic used by the Liberal Party of Canada for years to paint their opponents, the Conservatives, as anti-immigrant. But in 2006 finally enough Canadians ignored the propaganda and elected the Conservatives. Lo and behold, it was suddenly discovered that all such racist tarring done by the Liberals was a complete lie.

Sadly, fanatical Democrats are seeking to start a race war in America . . . if it'll help them win victory on Nov. 4th. Dennis Prager has some insightful comments about this here & here, and explains that if Obama loses then the only ones who could possibly be racist are Democrats, since Republicans would never vote for an extreme liberal like Obama regardless of his race or sex.

---

Here's a telling editorial from a Republican named John Doggett. Oh, by the way, he happens to be black.

Elmasry & Khadr: The Worst Poster Boys Ever

As I wrote about earlier, CIC President, Mohammed Elmasry, has injected himself into the ongoing debate about Omar Khadr. Something very unusual has happened over at the CBC website. Mostly populated by legions of loyal CBC listeners & viewers, a surprisingly large number of them are refusing to stick to their old multicult ultra-liberal precepts and side with Elmasy.

I signed up and added this comment:

I've long challenged my fellow Canadians to describe what it means to be a citizen of our country WITHOUT making any reference to America or Americans. Most can't do it. I have many American friends and admire many things about the founding notions of our neighbour to the south. But do we have to follow their lead on everything?

What does it say about the lack of originality of Canadians that so many of the very worst trends in America seem to get adopted here? Rap music is one. Every other young woman wanting to be just like Paris Hilton is another! The list is endless.

Last New Year's Eve I made a very public proclamation of my hopes for Canada for 2008. You can read them here. The list is real and unaltered, I assure you. It's been sitting there for 6.5 months.

Is it just my imagination, or has Mohammed Elmasry completely violated the Top 5? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course ... oh, unless you live here on Canada's Left Coast and say something the "Human Rights" commissars disagree with ... but that aside, which Canada do you want to live in:

• One where people have similar hopes to what I published?
• Or one where everyone is acting like Elmasry and screaming "You're a Racist" to anyone who disagrees with them?
  

Food for thought.

This growing backlash is exactly what Mark Steyn, in America Alone, warned would happen. Though he was referring to it happening in Europe. That it's happening in Canada now, even after years of propaganda in support of "Poor Omar" by the CBC News staff and others, is quite surprising to me.

My worry though is that moderate Muslim Canadians are going to get swept up in the backlash too. That would be both wrong and unfortunate. To prevent it, more might want to start chastising Elmasry and the CIC now.

Mohammed Elmasry: The Continued Exploits of a Clown

Headline: Muslim leader accuses Harper of indifference to 'brown skinned' Omar Khadr

Hold the presses! Stop regular scheduled TV programming! The almighty Mohamed Elmasry speaks!

Although, this is the same man who:

1. Has publicly declared that all Jewish adults over the age of 18 are legitimate targets of suicide bombers.
2. Has written in the Montreal Gazette that Zimbabwe's horrific dictator, Robert Mugabe, is simply misunderstood.
3. Launched a Human Rights case against Maclean's magazine, which cost them at least $100,000 to fight (and him nothing), but then didn't even have the decency to show up for his case.

Yes, when this moronic clown speaks, we should all listen. Notttttttt!!!

Omar Khadr - Future Liberal MP!

July 1, 2013 - Toronto - After a disastrous defeat by the Conservatives in 2009, the reconstituted Liberal Party of Canada, announced it newest candidate today. Omar Khadr, once an alleged al Qaeda terrorist and Guantanomo Bay prisoner, announced his candidacy today in the riding of Toronto-Danforth.

Liberal leader Bob Rae started the press conference by introducing Khadr: "Once an innocent child, illegally incarcerated by the American government, Omar has fought a righteous campaign in support of human rights for all ethnicities. Five years ago, when I was instrumental in freeing him, I must confess that I didn't know him very well. But having spent much time with him and his family ever since, I am now proud to call Omar a key member of the Rainbow Coalition that is the new Liberal Party of Canada."

Further to the last post

I decided to post the 2 links about the racial baby adoptions on a favourite website of mine. It was interesting to see that I'm not the only one who was greatly disturbed by this.

You know that expression, "You shouldn't judge a person until you've walked a mile in their moccasins"? With that in mind, let me share with you all a brief glimpse of my background.

My father is German, born in the old country in 1931. So he was just 14 when WW2 ended. He saw no future for his homeland and emigrated to Canada in 1951. I was born 13 years later. He was so disgusted with what the Nazis had done, starting with - let's not dare forget - their separation of "us" & "them": "Us and the Jews", "Us and the Blacks" (think Jesse Owens), "Us and the Gypsies", "Us and the Homosexuals", etc.

From a young age my Dad taught me to treat everyone equal. He pointed out that I had a right to dislike anyone, but I should do so based on that individual's words and actions, not on their skin colour, accent, religion, etc.

Where I went to elementary school and high school, there was a grand mixture of children of all ethnicities. In elementary school my 2 best friends were a Filipino kid named Paul and a half-Filipino / half-Caucasian kid named Jimmy. In high school my 2 best friends were an Indian-Muslim fellow named Deenu and a half-German / half-Swedish fellow named Richard. Also in high school, most of my other close friends with ethnically Chinese. But we were all Canadian.

At the time I didn't appreciate the apparent rarity of how all of us kids, whose parents and grandparents had come to Canada from all over the world, got along so incredibly well. There simply wasn't any racism amongst us. There was a separation of dopers and jocks and braniacs and artists, but never were there any separations by race.

Sadly, much has changed since I graduated from high school in 1982. The governments throughout my country (federal, provincial, and municipal) have created an assortment of programs that quite deliberately distinguish people by race. Oh, of course they haven't spun it the way the Nazis did. It's all done in a supposedly positive or affirmative way. But the end effect has some strong similarities.

Nowadays in Vancouver you see large groups of people in public spaces who are entirely of a single ethnic make-up. In high-schools the kids have self-segregated themselves down ethnic lines, often speaking their own native language, which nobody else can understand. There are jobs posted by government agencies where "only minorities need apply". There are entire neighbourhoods where no English (or French) is spoken. Political candidates are nominated from a sudden horde of brand new members where strangely enough, 99% come from a single ethnic minority. And now we have babies that can not be adopted by anyone outside of their "community".

This is "progressive"? This is positive? Yet this is the Canada (and I assume the United States) of 2008. Are there any spaceships leaving for Mars? I want to book a seat.

Letter to Jennifer Rubin

Jennifer,

I learned of you and your blog from Hugh Hewitt's interview of you. The few entries I've read so far are most interesting!

I don't know if most of the commenters on here are Jewish Americans, but I'm not. I'm a Recovering Catholic in Vancouver, BC on Canada's Left Coast. But I enjoy learning about what others from around the world are thinking.

More than perhaps anyone on here realizes, your country's election has captured the attention of many Canucks. I'm no exception. Up until about mid-February I was enamoured with Obama's message of Positive Change. Then strange things started surfacing from him and from those around him. Since I've never drank any politician's Kool-Aid, I'm able to clearly analyze what's actually being said and change my opinion of the politician if need be. The more he has kept talking, out of at least 3 sides of his mouth, the more I've realized how scary he would be, not just for America, but for the West in General. Not at all because he's Black, but because of his extreme socialist views. I've seen how socialism has hurt Canada, France, and Britain. We're now on the mend, Sarkozy is trying to take France in that direction, and Britain may be moving the pendulum in the other direction soon.

On New Year's Eve last year I wrote a little something about my hopes & dreams for my nation in 2008. But I clearly shouldn't have limited its scope! Now that I see the Obamanation message coming clearly into focus, I realize that what he really stands for is directly against most of my core principles.

Worst of all is the Identity Politics that his campaign is playing. Not only are they pitting different ethnic & religious groups against one another, but they're using the new age PC trick of calling anyone who disagrees with them a Racist. And their millions of supporters are repeating the charge verbatim. I find this absolutely repugnant.

There's a bright guy on You Tube named Tom who recently posted a video called Sushi Politics. He makes an interesting, though flawed case, that people who eat sushi on a regular basis support Obama whereas those who don't aren't as enlightened. To him I asked a simple question:

Might it be possible that Obama's "base" consists of 3 primary groups:

1. African-Americans.
2. People who never equated the need for work as a necessary requirement to get what they desire.
3. Liberal educated people who detest Bush and think Obama would be a "refreshing change".

Is there anyone else who really supports him?

To his credit, Tom did respond to my question but didn't really answer it. In the coming months I will watch the polls and see if a 4th or 5th group emerges. Somehow I don't think so.

I'm most saddened that Obama has turned out to be another Jesse Jackson like victim-laden politician. African-Americans deserve much more. If he's not a snake oil salesman, then he's the close cousin of one.

The Audacity of Disagreeing with Another

Recently I was engaged in an interesting online political discussion. Here's the gist of what I said:

The fear of being political incorrect too often seeps into people's comments these days. I fully understand why, though am saddened anytime anyone feels the need to first preface any comments they think might be controversial. I did it myself constantly in my 20's and even now need to check myself anytime I start walking down that path again.

This reminded of Godwin's Law, something I first learned of from a female friend of mine from Philadelphia. Her take on it is that anytime someone calls another person a "Nazi" in a heated Internet discussion that the person using the phrase automatically and immediately loses the argument.

I think this "law" needs to be expanded for anyone who labels another as a "Racist" or "Sexist". For if one can't disagree or even detest someone who happens to be of another race or sex then we are truly at a sad state in our collective history.

P.S. I'm doubly amused when some people have called me a racist sexist white male simply because I disagree with them on a political issue. To each of these folks I always ask the same simple question: "If Condoleezza Rice were running in this election as the Republican Presidential Candidate, would you vote for her?" Their response is always the same: Absolute silence at first and then a long, twisted diatribe about why that's "different". It often ends in them calling her a Nazi. :-(

Though I don't like his frequent use of the F & N words, Chris Rock has some interesting things to say on this subject. Why do I doubt that anyone would ever call him a racist or a sexist?

A Voice Against Jeremiah Wright

Many have been very scared to criticize Jeremiah Wright for fear of being chastised by the politically correct set. Gary MacDougal, from Illinois, isn't one of them. Read his editorial here.

Update: Mark Steyn and Charles Krauthammer chime in on the same.

Obama's Got a Problem

A big, big problem in fact. Victor Davis Hanson elaborates here.

"Don't Forget the Angry White Man"

This posting is part of the 10% of my time that I will deviate away from my professional technical focus! I don't know how I missed it when it was first published, but I just read this brilliant rant by Aspen Times Weekly writer Gary Hubbell. Warning: It is very politically incorrect ... as all good rants are!

While not everything struck a chord with me, most of it did. Amongst many of my male friends, one could remove the word "White" and it would still ring true. And amongst some of my female friends one could remove the words "White Male" and it would still ring true as well! Here are the parts of the editorial that resonated the most with me:

• Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.
  
  
• [The Angry White Man's] common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard.
  
  
• The victimhood syndrome buzzwords — “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him. He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.
  
  
• The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him.
  
  
• Women either love him or hate him, but they know he’s a man, not a dishrag. If they’re looking for someone to walk all over, they’ve got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.”
  
  
• He’s not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English.
  
  
• [The] Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It’s not that she is a woman. It’s that she is who she is. It’s the liberal victim groups she panders to, the “poor me” attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves.

And this is why John McCain will beat either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in November. The reason has nothing to do with their race or their sex. It has everything to do with pandering to special interest groups and encouraging everyone who isn't a white male to think of themselves as a victim. These actions of theirs are far beneath what the United States of America aspires to. No great nation is made up of a patchwork quilt of victims.

Personal note: Is it any wonder why I feel completely out of place living on Canada's Left Coast?

Letter to Kimberley Strassel

I found this article about Barack Obama to be most interesting. Never one to shy away from expressing my thoughts - :-) - I sent the columnist this letter:

Dear Ms. Strassel,

I confess to never having read your work before. But every week I read Peggy Noonan's editorial and happened upon your latest.

Just so you know, I live in Vancouver, BC, on Canada's Left Coast. While I'm a proud Canadian, it's very clear that my views don't mesh well with the majority opinion here. C'est la vie. I've never been one to want to be part of the general flock anyway! I read and listen to news & opinion from around the world, most especially the US and the UK. Because of this, perhaps I have a somewhat different, perhaps "bigger picture" perspective than some. One of my modern day heroes is Mark Steyn, a Canadian living in New Hampshire. His writings often hit strong chords with me.

Living where I do, and given the relative unimportance of Canada on the world stage, much of my attention is focused on watching the culture in both the US and the UK. While most every American city has some periodic problems with racial tension, I would strongly suggest to you that the problem is much worse in Britain. Over there, it seems very clear that the official multicultural policies have directly resulted in promoting minorities to think of their own racial and cultural heritage first & foremost and being "British" a distant third in importance. This has resulted in many minorities viewing themselves as victims who can only seek redress from the benevolent government. While this works wonders in the short term for the Labour government in power, it can only lead to troubled times in the future.

The US has long been known for its melting pot approach to cultural diversity. One may indeed be racially Asian or African or Indian but first & foremost you are an American; and if not you, then your children. Some have condemned this method of integration but I'm convinced it's the only way to ensure a nation's cohesion. For with it there's no longer "us and them" but just "us", albeit in a beautiful number of different skin shades and facial features. In your nation, different is good, different is beautiful, but all living proudly under one American flag is glorious!

Which brings us to Barack Obama. In your article I agreed with everything you wrote but there's one "elephant in the room" issue that you did not line up precisely in the crosshairs. Up until about mid-February he was soaring in the polls and generally making Americans (of all colors) feel great that in 2008 a black man had just as much chance of becoming president as anyone else. He was proud, he was strong, and he was confident - clearly all the signs of a winner. Americans like winners, especially those who have come from humble roots. To the average person, one thing Obama was not was an "us and them" kind of leader like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. This, I believe, was the key to his popularity.

But then something happened. We started hearing some rather odd remarks from his wife, Michelle, and from his pastor of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright. They were both preaching from the song book of victimhood. Victims do not exude confidence. Victimhood does not correlate well with winners. For the past 2 months a shake-out of sorts occurred, where people tried to juxtapose the image they previously had of Barack Obama with this new image of Permanent Victim Syndrome laden folks all around him.

The elitist gaffs are a new twist but not necessarily death blows to his campaign. For even in America, leaders always have at least a tinge of elitism. Much worse are his recent complaints that certain questions posed to him are "unfair". That only reinforces the victim issues that are now planted in the back of the minds of voters. While he may beat Hillary Clinton because of the mathematical advantage he enjoys, if that victim "seed" continues to grow, he will get absolutely wiped out by John McCain in November. The majority of Americans will not vote for a victim. Nor should they.

The Real Racists in London, England

I listened in disbelief to a caller named Jasmine who phoned into [Big] George Webley's radio programme on BBC London. Identifying herself as a woman of colour, she effectively went on to say that any white person who disagreed with her - about anything - was a racist. She knew "the truth" and if anyone disagreed with her then "of course" they must be a racist. She even called Big George a racist (when in fact he's the exact opposite!) and refused to apologize for her comment.

IMHO she exemplifies most of what is wrong with race relations in the UK today.

Governments throughout the Western World have bent over backwards in the past few decades to correct the errors of times past. And for the most part, I believe that most non-minority citizens have as well.

Sadly, there appears to be a certain percentage of minority citizens, especially in the UK it seems, who have a permanent chip on their shoulder and have found the easiest way to get what they want, whenever they want, is to just play the race card.

The fact is that winners of all races & religions realize that adversity and challenges are a part of life. When they encounter them, they don't raise a white flag and cry "poor me, I'm a victim". Instead, they learn and gain strength from such experiences and move forward, onto the next challenge.

Jasmine is not a winner, but a hateful ignoramus. She has let her mind become infected with PVS (Permanent Victim Syndrome). It now dictates every part of her life. She has set up psychological landmines all around her that instantly go off whenever anyone says or does anything that she does not agree with.

But the sad reality of our times is that no politician will ever dare tell her what she needs to hear to get beyond being a permanent victim. The fear of reprisals from the politically correct set is just too great. Instead, they will insist that the people who she comes in conflict with need "sensitivity training". In this way, her victim mentality is reinforced and the "offender" who [likely] did nothing wrong becomes convinced, and rightly so, that the establishment has gone mad.

With this dysfunctional pattern happening time after time after time again, it is absolutely no wonder why racial tensions in the UK are on the rise.

It's not limited to just there, of course. In the coming months, watch for the "Jasmine mentality" in the Barack Obama campaign in the United States. I'm deeply saddened by this, for I had thought he was a man of hope. Instead, he's turning out to be just another cookie-cutter politician who constantly emphasizes "us" and "them"; and then of course needs the government to come to the rescue. It's such a predictable soap opera. No wonder so many people detest politics and politicians.

Multiculturalism: The Slow Road to a Dysfunctional Society

I recently commented on Janet Albrechtsen's recent editorial in the Vancouver Sun in regard to the persecution of Ezra Levant. But there was a second, intertwined theme as well. Here's a snippet from what she wrote:

"It was one of those rare, particularly sunny days in Vancouver in September when, addressing an audience at the University of British Columbia, I suggested that multiculturalism and its partner in crime, moral relativism, were leading to the demise of western values.

“ But you must understand,” implored a well- intentioned woman in the audience, “ multiculturalism is Canada’s gift to the world.”

If Australia is set to follow Canada, then thanks, but no thanks. Call me ungrateful, but we should have returned the gift to Canada long ago."

This past evening I listened to a fascinating talk show on BBC London, hosted by Ray Khan. The main topic of the evening was why so many Londoners feel absolutely frightened to venture out on the streets at night. This was exemplified when British Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, recently admitted that she is scared to walk in London at night.

A visiting Canadian from Toronto, currently staying in London, called in. He made an interesting observation about a significant difference between America & Canada on the one hand and Britain on the other. In America one thinks of themselves as an American first. This is pretty much the same in Canada, albeit to a slightly lesser degree. But in Britain, multiculturalism has so deeply taken hold that "hyphenation" is the order of the day. The result is far too little unity between the various groups within society, especially amongst young teenagers and men in their early 20's.

There are dangerous, divisive forces at work in Canada, striving to hyphenate everyone here. So rather than just being a Canadian, one is instead a Chinese-Canadian or an Indo-Canadian or a Native-Canadian, etc. Little do these same people understand how they're being manipulated by politicians, most of whom are white liberals by the way.

Britain is the proverbial canary in the mine shaft. If Canadians wish to continue down the same path to the mess that is British society today (their words, not mine!) then keep on promoting the "Us & Them" policies of multiculturalism.

The U.S. Isn't Immune From Stupid Politically Correctness

As I've outlined on here numerous times, political correctness is destroying Canada and must be stopped dead in its tracks. But a crazy story from the world of American Golf - of all places - shows that our neighbours to the south aren't immune from the same stupidity.

On January 4th, during a PGA Tour telecast, anchor Nick Faldo made a joke that younger players should "gang up" on Tiger Woods in order to defeat him. His co-anchor, a woman named Kelly Tilghman responded, "Lynch him a back alley." They both chuckled.

Afterwards, a controversy started brewing. Long-time racist and provocateur, Al Sharpton, demanded that she be fired. Woods' own agent, Mark Steinberg, was interviewed and said that he didn't think there was any ill intent on Tilghman's part. Of course not, because there wasn't! She had known Woods for 12 years and been indirectly involved in some of his business.

But lo and behold, on January 9th the Golf Channel suspended her for 2 weeks.

This nonsense, this crap, this knife through the heart of free speech JUST HAS TO STOP!!! People like Sharpton aren't saying what they are because they're truly offended. Rather, they're using political correctness as a weapon to further their own political agendas and egos. It's actually quite sick.

A long time ago a young woman I knew said something extremely wise to me: "If someone wants to find something offensive in anything you say, then they will."