Melanie the Optimist

Melanie Philips seizes upon a government measure to alter one aspect of Britian's "human rights" legislation to argue that "the tide is turning" against the lefty "thought police." However, that entails surmounting an immense hurdle:

The point about the Left-wingers who police and thus control our public debate is this: they believe above all else that they alone occupy the moral high ground.

They thus divide the world into good and bad. Only their own view is to be permitted; any dissent is by definition evil.

So all dissenters are Right-wing, all Right-wingers are evil and all who oppose the liberal consensus are therefore evil Right-wingers who must be damned as beyond the pale.

This is, of course, a totally closed thought process, similar to the totalitarian tyrannies imposed by the medieval Church or Stalinism.

Yet this monstrous repudiation of reason has effectively hijacked public debate...

The question is: Can we effectively "un"-hijack it? I certainly hope so, but I'm not laying bets on it.

Shockingly, the L.A. Times Dares to Contravene Accepted Lefty Narrative, Publishes Op-Ed Pointing Out the Glaringly Obvious

Israel's blockade of Gaza is about self defence and is therefore completely defensible, writes Amos N. Giora in, of all places, the above-mentioned rag:

The organizers [of the flatulent flotilla] make the claim that Israel's blockade violates international law. That's a catchy accusation, but it's wrong in law and in fact.

According to international law, states can declare and impose a sea blockade as a means to prevent contraband from being smuggled into their territory. For the blockade to be lawful, the contraband must pose a danger to the nation-state. "Due notice" must be given that a blockade is in effect and that it will be defended. Israel's Gaza sea blockade meets these requirements.

But what about the chilllldddrrrennnnn (wail flotilla "humanitarians" endlessly, obsessively)? Actually, boatniks, it looks like the kids are alright.

Hope 'n' Cagney are Even Better than Hope 'n' Change

A clip from the past for the glorious 4th. Enjoy!

My Favorite Headline of the Day (So Far)

Imam decries Islamophobia while Pride battles homophobia

Not incidentally, the imam in question (he was in town for an Islamic spread-the-faith thingamajiggy) is an unrepentant homophobe.

In the Face of Compelling Demographics, the G&M Shills For Islam

I still get the Globe and Mail delivered to my doorstep every morning, so I can see how the hard copy differs from the online version. In today's online paper, for example, there's an article headlined "The new Islam comes with a reluctance to label orthodoxy." The paper paper, however, puts a whole different spin on it, featuring the smiling face of a be-hijabed lass with the header "TIME TO LEAD"  and this palaver under the photo:

For some young Canadian Muslims, an 'us and them' mentality persists. They are bearing the burder of correcting misconceptions among their peers and, and their parents.

And among us too, apparently. For, as the Globe scribbler informs us, Islam is the coming thing in Canada, and we had all better get used to it:

But regardless of what other Canadians think of them, it’s getting harder to ignore Islam, and young Muslims, in Canada. Islam is Canada’s fastest-growing major religion. According to a Statistics Canada estimate, the Muslim population will soar to 2.9 million by 2031 from its 2006 base of 884,000 adherents.

A population shift alone may not be enough to close the gap between the solitudes. Ms. Raja is optimistic that attitudes will change, but said the responsibility also lies with her and her fellow Muslims.

“I guess people gravitate towards their own community, but for me, I feel like it’s extremely important to engage with the larger Toronto community,” she said.

High-profile stories, including the Toronto 18 terrorism bust, the murder of Mississauga, Ont., teenager Aqsa Parvez by her father and brother, and tales of radical youth travelling overseas on jihadist missions, have left many non-Muslims with a skewed understanding of the religion – a faith whose diversity, especially within Canada, is immense, with differences across sect, ethnocultural or national origin, and levels of adherence.

The same narratives also make some Muslims pessimistic about engaging in community work while representing themselves as Muslims, Rizwan Mohammad said. “They felt almost like, ‘We’re fighting a losing battle.’”

In 2009, Mr. Mohammad set out on a two-year cross-Canada project with the Canadian Council for Muslim Women to better connect young Muslims with their communities. The more than 800 Muslim youth who participated in workshops shared one gripe in particular: their portrayal in the media as an isolated, alienated and – in the case of females – oppressed group...

 "A losing battle"? Oh, pshaw, Ms. M. Not when the G&M is around to take up the cause and sprinkle its "diversity" fairy dust in our eyes (for more on Islam's "diversity," see this explanation by Turkey's p.m.); not with leftists who think that "Dar al Harb" v. "Dar al Islam" stuff is something non-Muslims came up with; not with "experts" such as the one quoted in the article who insist that despite Muslim reluctance to come to terms with the extremists among them, the way to make them feel more at home is for public schools to redefine "reasonable accommodation" and accommodate Islamic practices. (Yeah, that should do the trick.)

But wait--it gets better. This puffery is merely part one of a three-parter. Coming up tomorrow: "How Canadian artists draw on Islam." Can't hardly wait for that one.

'Tahrir' Cry Babies

Via rabble (of course):

An update from the steering committee of the Canadian Boat to Gaza.  

As news started to spread that the flotilla plans to sail from Greece on Monday the Israeli media is now reporting on a Greek-Israeli agreement to deliver the flotilla aid supplies destined for Gaza through "existing channels".

Remember, there is NO Greek offer to the flotilla. There is only media reports about a deal between Greece and Israel.

Our goals (CBG and FF-II) have always been clear and central in them is ending the illegal blockade of Gaza. From day one we have maintained that the so called "existing channels" are not adequate and are unacceptable. They have not and will not resolve the problems facing the people of Gaza.

We call on you to continue to pressure Greece to lift the blockade it imposed on the Canadian Boat to Gaza (the Tahrir) and other FF-II boats (details below).

To quote Richard Falk, American professor of international law and a UN appointee to the Palestinian territories: "Greece has no right to detain foreign-flagged ships in its ports other than for purposes of assuring seaworthiness via timely inspection. And they cannot interfere with 'innocent passage' through their territorial waters, and this passage is definitely innocent."... 

To quote Richard Falk? That wretched "rapporteur"? That zany Zion-loather? You think that's going to help make your case?

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Update: The UN's Dick Falk is second only to Noam Chomsky on the list of Jewish scoundrels, aiders and abettors of Zionhass, who are on the wrong side of history.

Why Is This Man a Canadian Hero?

In a review of Phoenix, a new biography about Canadian and Commie Chinese legend Dr. Norman Bethune, historian Michael Bliss writes:

“Bethune’s fame”, the Stewarts conclude, “is largely the result of one historical event – the ultimate victory of the Chinese communists over the Guodmindang in the Chinese civil war. Had that not occurred, his life would be a footnote…” His deeds have been immortalized for political purposes, first by the government of China during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, then by the government of Canada in the 1970s as it tried to suck up to China and the Chinese. The campaign to celebrate Bethune largely succeeded.

Norman Bethune’s brief moment of success in a life of failure hardly compares to the achievements of countless physicians, from country practitioners and laboratory researchers through skilled surgeons through the thousands of Christian medical missionaries who first brought Western medicine to China. These are among the everyday heroes of real medicine...

And yet Canadian schoolkids are still taught about this "legendary hero" (there's even a Toronto public high school that bears his name, for heaven's sake), and taxpayers pay a whack of cash every year to maintain the fiction--the fraud--that the old sot is someone worth heroizing.

Begging the question: How dumb are we?

Stopping By a Hateful Pride Protest on a Sunny Afternoon

Candidate Bernie Farber sucks up to gays--big time--using the lame pretext that both Jews 'n' queers were slated for extermination by the Nazis. He suggests a host of measures designed to ease tensions between the two communities:

How wonderful it would be if our communities could find ways to work together. Is there an opportunity for the leadership of the LGBT community to participate in a mission with Jewish leaders to Israel? Or perhaps an art exhibit featuring Jewish and gay artists that show how they grappled with their sense of “otherness”? Or perhaps we can find a meaningful day to say a prayer for those who have been lost to our communities because of hatreds past and present.

Um, I'm not sure that the LGBT community has a designated "leadership," at least, not in the Official Jewry sense, and certainly not the sort that could be feted a la the United Church of Canada leadership. Not that shlepping them to Israel--Bernie's cure-all for die-hard, endemic Zionhass--would make the least bit of difference. (Who would you take on such a mission, Bernie--Susan G. Cole and her ilk?)

That said, at least this time around Bernie is quoting Robert Frost (yes, Robert Frost) and not "Fanny Brice."

Zion-Loathers Pull a Fast One, March in Pride Parade; Toronto Councillor Demands End to Parade Funding

Details here. BCF has the pix.

Everyday Life in the 'Concentration Camp'

Gaza moppets at play vault into the Guinness record books--for the third year in a row!

Try It For a Month; Stay For an Eternity

The Beeb calls it "Deity Tourism"--kafirs venturing to Turkey try out Islam for month and see if it suits them:

People usually think of religion in terms of a lifetime of commitment, but could you learn anything from trying one out for a month?

The call to prayer sounds from Eyup Mosque in Istanbul and local Muslims gather on the marble square outside for prayer. Men on one side, women the other, they crowd on mats for the Friday ritual.

Among them this week though are a few faces looking less than confident about what comes next.

Barbra Taylor, from Hawaii, and Terry Goldsmith, from Bury, Greater Manchester, are two of them. They're not Muslim, but guests for nine days.

This is part of "Muslim for a Month" - a programme from social enterprise group The Blood Foundation where participants get to "test-drive" a religion.

"Coming away to do this process, some of my friends have questioned it and said 'are you crazy? Aren't you going to the enemy camp?'," Taylor says.

"They feel anyone who's even remotely affiliated with the Muslim faith is a terrorist. I just felt this programme is interesting to me, I had an interest in Turkey and also I felt there was a misunderstanding about perhaps the second largest religion in the world."...

Careful there, Barb. Once you say the magic words, there's no going back (that's how sharia sees it, anyway).