Monday Post

At the start of the work-week...


Just after a sixteen hour siege at local cafe in Sydney where staff and customers were made to display a Shahada flag by an Iranian-born Islamist and where three people, the Islamist included, where killed, Australians (and Canadians) offer a display of naive and ultimately suicidal grovelling:

In the wake of the hostage-taking incident, a powerful online movement is capturing these moments of camaraderie. The hashtag #Illridewithyou has been trending on social media all day, after it was launched by an Australian who saw a Muslim woman remove her headscarf while riding public transit.

According to the Associated Press, Rachel Jacobs wrote on Facebook that she watched the woman remove her scarf, presumably out of a fear of repercussion, before running up to her and offering to walk with her.

The show of solidarity prompted a Twitter campaign in which people volunteered to stand with those in traditional Islamic dress who felt insecure in public.

And this is why Australia will be attacked again.

First of all, let's start with how Ibn Warraq has described the seventh-century emotional retardation that is the Islamist character:

Most important, Ibn Warraq  describes the “mind-set” of most Muslims as intolerant, self-pitying, stagnant, and trained to blame others for their own failures. He also sees the Muslim “mind-set” as akin to that of people trapped in totalitarian regimes. The need to control thought and to sacrifice individuality characterizes both Islamic and Marxist regimes. Thus, we understand the affinity that Western “leftists” have with reactionary Islamists. Ibn Warraq contrasts this with a Western “mind-set” which is built upon Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, scientific, and Enlightenment foundations and is characterized by intellectual curiosity, genuine interest in the “other,” a sense of irony, the ability to engage in self-criticism, and a concern with finding the truth.

Granted that a flurry of white shame (the inexcusable neurosis that makes weak-minded individuals susceptible to feelings of shame, self-loathing and the need to prove one's worthlessness to an ideological bully) intercepted the inevitable and unjustified cries of racism and "backlash" that never, ever seems to come even after fifteen people are arrested for plotting to behead innocent people, or after violent riots or after bombings that killed Australian tourists in Bali, it's still as sickeningly defeatist and for the unthinking tweeter, a chance to stroke one's ego by being a part of a social media happening without thinking of its origins or consequences. An articulate and rational response is always better than knee-jerk reactions.There is nothing articulate or rational about taking part in a social media campaign steeped in denial and ego-stroking. Want to be a part of a happening without even thinking about it? Send out a pointless hashtag. It's as fun as taking self-photographs near a hostage crisis.

There is nothing wrong with a sense of mistrust after repeated examples of xenophobia and violence. Remember- Australia bore Japan a cold animosity long after the war. If common geopolitical ground is hard to come by after seventy-four years of conflict and coddling occurs not twenty-four hours after a brutal terrorist attack, then this says volumes about not just Australian character but the character of any post-modern West citizen. Forgiveness occurs after the victim accepts what has happened to him and contrition occurs after the guilty party realises his moral error and makes amends. One cannot get an apology out of Monis; he's dead. Did anyone hear the Muslim community promise to root out extremism in their ranks? Is the Koran going to be re-interpreted? Will the Islamic world undergo fundamental changes other religions have undergone and that will make them adapt to a world where all humans are supposed to have worth, accept the consequences of their actions and inquire about their realities?

No.

Instead, the pervading sense of white shame has prevented a much-needed shake-up of a community that cries 'victim' after yet another of their members commits an act of violence.

I wonder what the next hashtag will be? #Iknowthiskeepshappeningtousbutlet'sforgetallaboutit.

Not an ISIS flag.

Moving on...


Well, this must be embarrassing:

Last week, NBA stars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Deron Williams donned "I CAN'T BREATHE" T-shirts in support of Michael Brown and Eric Garner — two unarmed black men killed by police over the summer. But now, a political activist who helped organize and produce some of the shirts says he regrets they were manufactured by a company that has long been accused of poor labor practices. ...

Skolnick obtained shirts from a store in Long Island City, whose owner confirmed in an interview that the shirts were manufactured by Gildan, a large Canada-based apparel company. 

According to pro-labor activists, Gildan has a poor record when it comes to respecting workers in its manufacturing plants in Haiti.

(courtesy)


I know you meant well but she doesn't care:

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne got some direct feedback from a man in her neighbourhood following the auditor general's report last week that blamed Liberal policies for soaring electricity prices.

Wynne told the Economic Club of Canada today that she was in her local video store Saturday when another customer decided to offer some unsolicited advice.

She described him as a young father, and said he yelled from across the store: "Kathleen you've got to do better. You're wasting our money."

Wynne told the business audience that she figured the guy was having a bad day.

But she also said such interactions with the public remind her of why she got into politics in the first place: to create more jobs, more opportunities and a stronger economy.

(Sidebar: what a lying b!#ch.)

And neither do the people who voted for her.


And now, cats vs. Christmas trees: it's on!