January 15, 2015

There is nothing quite like turning on minorities in times of crisis.  In response to last week’s massacre of Charlie Hebdo artists and writers by murderers claiming to avenge the Prophet, simple-minded bigots here and abroad want Muslims to pay.

News Corp executive and owner of Fox News Rupert Murdoch said Muslims must “recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer,” wilfully blurring the line between moderate and radical, normal and psychopath.

Even if he has since tried to backtrack, it’s a well-worn formula adopted by National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who said if the Islamist cancer is not eradicated, it will spread.

The United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) leader Nigel Farage told Fox News that France had “no-go” areas for non-Muslims across the country.  Fox also ‘reports’ on a dormant jihad in France, which is “festering unchecked.”

It’s worth wondering whether the ravings of the right-wing panic brigade are batty after all, as Michael Deacon at The Telegraph writes, and examining what the right have to gain.

What if we turned on all Muslims as though they were some monolithic, homogeneous group, and  shunned them for supping with radicals.  And suppose all the while we did nothing to improve the prospects of low-income Muslim families living in areas of high unemployment.  Sparks have already flown in les banlieues in the past. What if we continued to feed this toxic mix of urban neglect and right-wing scapegoating, until more young men fell under the spell of extremist imams and their homicidal dogma?

And what if their ranks swelled, until new violence broke out, prompting a backlash so fierce that the government would be forced to act?  Well, the government would likely strengthen anti-terrorism laws, restrict civil liberties and rein in immigration.  Police profiling would not slacken any time soon.

Not only does this look like the policy platform of the National Front, it’s a snapshot of post-9/11 America – and a possible post-January 7 Europe to come. So obvious is the temptation of government over-reach that the French Prime Minister disavowed any looming Patriot Act à la Française, or indeed a French NSA.

Liberty and Civil Rights vs Fear and Militaristic Over-reach
France is at a cross-roads.  Over the past week, we’ve seen millions march in solidarity not seen since the first world war.  The government has striven to overcome fear and division and move toward national unity. But it will also deploy 10,000 troops and police across the country, increase surveillance, and is facing pressures for tougher legislation from predictable quarters.

Keep an eye on the far-right zealots, and the Islamists they claim to hate.

They have more in common than they would like to admit.

December 4, 2010

I’m sure it’s not just right-wing cranks and crazed cable news panellists who harbour a deep disdain for facts, or for anyone having the audacity to cite them. But at the risk of adding to their ire, let’s clear this much up: The “Ground-Zero Mosque” is neither a mosque, nor to be built at Ground Zero.

* It’s a multi-faith cultural centre housing a mosque and a prayer room for people of other faiths

* The multi-story building will include a swimming pool, childcare and exhibition facilities, a library, auditorium, restaurant and more

* It is more than two blocks away from the aptly named Ground Zero – where nothing has been built in the nearly 10 years since the Twin Towers were destroyed

This information is easy enough to find. So why is it still necessary to repeat such basic truths in the bizarre storm of relentless propaganda?

My fledgling theory begins with a few observations:
1.  Politicians and pundits – particularly the venal and more intellectually languid among them –  appeal to people’s most basic instincts of tribalism and resentment of the Other – whether Muslim, foreign or liberal

2.  These people harbour an insatiable appetite for power, political gain, and popularity, and know to offer scapegoats and simple solutions

3.  A badly educated nation, largely dependent on cable news for the bulk of their information about the world, has suffered a steady erosion of their critical faculties, and they are less capable of providing – or even  digesting – a cool analysis of complex issues. They instead fall prey to the doggerel pushed by people like Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and Bill O’Reilly – and a host of other snake-oil salesmen who would have difficulty getting a job in any other country.

December 2, 2010

As hard as colonies around the world once fought for independence, millions continue to harbour a bizarre fascination with the royal family. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s announcement that they would marry in 2011 graced the news pages and TV screens all over a planet on which the sun of empire once never set.

The Colonial Mentality of which Fela Kuti sang decades ago, remains pathologically entrenched, but the royals for their part, are modernising. Prince Charles has long been an eco-advocate, and wifey Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall has been studying street lingo, saying news of the wedding is “wicked.”

To which the head of the Windsor Massive – aka Queenie – bawled out: “Lick a shot!”  Thus began a celebration where royal rudies bust pure lead all over Buckingham, and a merry time was had by all, with minimal casualties.

November 14, 2010

An otherwise excellent columnist for the Toronto Star recently penned a veritable ode to recent road works on Bloor Street,  in one of Toronto’s ritzy districts. It also happens to be one of the main roads that carries people from the suburbs into the city, where cyclists have been lobbying for bike lanes to make travel safer, for years. To no avail.  Here’s my missive:

Toronto a Hick Town in Sheep’s Clothing

Dear Chris, I’m surprised and saddened by the omission of any reference to the absence of bike lanes on Bloor. It remains a glaring insult to people who live sustainably that in the vast majority of Toronto’s streets, there is nowhere for people to ride safely. You write of the poor pedestrians, who finally have room to move freely in Bloor’s ritzy strip. Well, for Toronto’s 5,000 kms of roads, there are as many kms of sidewalk – and but 100kms of bike lanes.

Refining the borders of our clogged streets with potted plants while refusing to paint a stripe on either side is yet another reminder that Toronto is a red-neck town that changes its shirt without ever abandoning its backwardness.

You normally take the time to produce a thoughtful, holistic appraisal of city planning. But this ode to cosmetics leaves readers with the impression that what is being built on Bloor is progressive. It is not. It’s retrograde pandering to Toronto’s nauseating brew of base and superficial instincts.