The left-wing is crazy and the right-wing scares the shit out of me!

Allan's Perspective is NOT recommended for the politically correct, or the overly religious. Some people have opinions. Some people have convictions......... What we offer is PERSPECTIVE!




Sunday 29 November 2015

Asshole of the Week!

Dear Readers:

As promised in the previous post, this one is all about political correctness!

First of all, before we go any further, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE NAME "EDMONTON ESKIMOS?" (Or the "Washington Redskins," or the "Atlanta Braves," or the "Kansas City Chiefs," or the "Cleveland Indians," or even the "Chicago Blackhawks,' for God's sake?)

All these people who are making a big deal about this are nominated as our "ASSHOLES OF THE WEEK!"

Look folks, I always thought it was an honour to name a sports franchise after various Indians, sorry, excuse me, various "Native Americans," but as usual I guess I was WRONG! (Doesn't necessarily mean I'm gonna change my attitude though!)

Now to show you what I mean I'm going to give you some quotes from a few journnalists around the country.

The first is from Marsha Lederman:

The democratization of commentary allowed by social media is excellent in so many ways, allowing for unprecedented access and discourse. But it has also helped nurture and promote a culture of outrage. At the drop of a hat and at light speed, we go from unaware to incensed – even in the absence of actual facts. This is not only distressing in and of itself, but serves to drown out and water down issues that are deserving of attention and indignation.

Weigh in even on the most innocuous of topics and you risk being bombarded with breathless, irate pieces of some anonymous troll’s mind.

Jennifer Scharf made headlines this week after the Ottawa Sun reported that her free yoga class at the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Students with Disabilities was put on hold by the university’s student federation because of concerns about cultural appropriation.
In a subsequent interview with Ottawa Magazine, Ms. Scharf raised concerns about “a trend of over-accommodating entitled young persons that is leading to the censoring of free speech” and used the term “crybullies.”
The student federation released a statement saying there were other issues at play, but of course the e-mail Ms. Scharf received referencing oppression, cultural genocide, colonialism and Western supremacy is getting all the attention. The student federation statement says their staff have since experienced “harassment and violence.”
I’m going to take a deep breath and chime in: I believe the new ubiquity of yoga has led to a sweet injection of calm, mindful and physical release in Western culture. Sure the phenomenon has lined the pockets of yoga-wear billionaires, but it has also helped millions of us deal with everything from a tough day at the office to catastrophic loss – and I wonder how that could do harm. Should I feel bad for allowing yoga to help me through a late-in-life pregnancy or difficult life events? Or even just improving my core strength?
There are certainly serious matters of cultural appropriation. Did you see that designer sweater this week that looks shockingly similar to a sacred Inuit design? But how far down the cultural appropriation road do we want to go? Golf? Spaghetti? Christmas?
Also concerning is how quickly outrage ramps up, even when we know almost nothing about something. With no details released about the “serious allegations” against the novelist Steven Galloway, now suspended from his position as chair of the creative writing program at UBC, a wait-and-see approach seemed advisable, but a tornado of outrage and defence quickly blew up to fill the information vacuum, leading to some vitriolic Twitter exchanges.
There is no shortage of issues about which to be outraged: The appalling apathy over Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women. The grueling plight of refugees (Syrian or otherwise). Donald Trump mocking a reporter who has a disability.
I am not suggesting I (or anyone for that matter) be the arbiter of what’s outrage-worthy; I do not want to curate your wrath. But can we all take a deep breath and apply some common sense to our fury? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/silence-phony-outrage-for-a-momentand-then-inhale-exhale-and-repeat/article27511351/

(On a side note here, there is THIS statement: "The appalling apathy over Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women." Well let me tell ya something kids, this "Reconciliation" group keeps bringing that up as if it's some sort of a big mystery, when in actual fact it's no mystery at all. WE all know, but nobody mentions the fact that over 95% of these murdered and missing women were "murdered," or went "missing" because of the people close to them ......., like husbands, or boyfriends! Somebody please explain the mystery of that to me! Sure, I know serial killers like Robert Pickton killed a few women, but we're talking about well over a thousand folks, and the reason for that is brought to light in this editorial in the Globe and Mail!)

 The issue is complicated, but we know how serious it is. Aboriginal women are six times more likely to be murdered than non-aboriginal women, according to figures released by Statistics Canada this week. And while the annual number of non-aboriginal female homicides has dropped dramatically since 1980, for aboriginal women the rate has risen.
Then there is the RCMP’s 2014 report stating that 1,181 indigenous women and girls were murdered or went missing between 1980 and 2012. And this week, a Globe and Mail investigation revealed that aboriginal women are seven times more likely to be the victims of a serial killer than non-aboriginal women.
Where it becomes complicated is here: How do you separate this issue from the broader problems of native people in Canada? For example, an aboriginal man is actually three times more likely to be murdered than an aboriginal woman, according to Statscan. Aboriginal men are seven times more likely to be a victim of homicide than non-aboriginal men, 10 times more likely to be accused of homicide and five times more likely to commit suicide. Aboriginals make up 4 per cent of the population, but 23 per cent of the population of federal penitentiaries.
The same Statscan report that says aboriginal women are six times more likely to be murdered also finds that one-third of the people accused of homicide in Canada in 2014 were aboriginal, including 51 per cent of female accused. Another report says First Nations women are seven times more likely to commit suicide than non-aboriginal women. We also know, based on a 2013 report, that 50 per cent of First Nations children in Canada live in poverty, a particularly depressing statistic given that the native population is younger and growing faster than the rest of the country. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/from-nobodies-to-somebodies-why-we-need-the-inquiry-into-mmiw/article27515115/

It is one thing to have a distinct group that is marginalized, and not do a thing abut it.  It is a whole other ball game to allow that marginalization to the women of that group to be put in harm’s way, and not do a thing about it.  For this reason an inquiry is called for ....., just not necessarily for the official reasons given! -Ed.

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