Well Hipsters - It's now the 7th of June here in Canada, (we've passed that triple-six thing) and I've noticed a distinct lack of commentary on this past weekend's terrorist festivities... (how quaintly Canadian, eh?) Well I've read the reviews - interesting things will develop this month, I'm sure. I find myself pondering the word "treason" lately. I find myself wondering just why we welcome people who want to blow us up. I find myself commiserating with Muslim Canadians who want no part of this bullshit, and agonize over the fact that their religious beliefs have been pre-empted for dastardly purposes. But most of all I find myself extremely pissed off at a community that isolates itself from a Canadian mainstream - which leads me to the inevitable need to define what the hell a Canadian is, anyway. I suppose one could be easily alarmed at how much confusion there is lately to define such an animal. (unless one consults mainstream media - then I suppose it's easy.) Yeah, I've read a few choice and pithy commentaries by Canadian women journalists about the proliferation of burkhas bandied about in media coverage, and otherwise symbolic straitjackets of oldworld bondage... I detect a strong irritation on their part - Astounding reponses in the Canadian mellow-ness of media tolerance for the good old multi-cultural mosaic. Well, here I sit in the midst of my Canadian community, for all its culture and tolerance, not having a clue what's going on in the Muslim community around me. So far I've seen a couple of newsmagazine programs on tv - alternative channels of course - and I wonder why the "experts" they've chosen to speak on behalf of Canadian Muslims - all look and sound like they're far closer to the fatherland than to this land. I mean - doesn't anybody realize that this is going to go over like a lead balloon? - to Canadian society at large? Because that's what's really at issue here. Canadians from coast to coast, this week, I'm sure are wondering - just how faithful to Canada are these citizens? I'm a 3rd generation Canadian - and nobody, not if their life depended on it, could ever guess just what land my grandfather came from. That's how this country used to grow. It always made sense to me. I have some blood in me that originated in some pretty volatile parts of the planet. I could care less about that. Why? Because I'm North American. That's all. No doubt Canadian media is thrilled to bits to have such a hit on their hands. (in their pathetic attempts to imitate big brother to the south...) I'm not so sure they'll be so thrilled if we're killed to bits - but that's another story. Well, I haven't seen the word treason yet in print - except the print I just typed in here - but I"m waiting. I wonder that the average Canadian isn't just a little pissed off about now - fed up, in fact. Not remotely as pissed off as they'll be if Canada ever does hit the "big time." A ground zero of our very own? Mercy! Then we'd all get to sit around and ponder the why of it.......................... later -
Wait? What terrorist events? Wow, I really am in my own world. I'm not sure I agree with your point entirely. Why, aside from that Muslims have a bad name in the media as "terrorists," are you singling out Muslims by saying that you don't know whats going on in their community? Do you know what the Korean-Canadians are doing? Do you know what the Chinese-Canadians are doing? Do you know what the Russian-Canadians are doing? Do you know what the Italian-Canadians are doing? I think you get my point... I wouldn't say thats true at all. There were 2 girls in my program who were Muslim and wore head scarves, but aside from that two very North American girls who liked watching America's Next Top Model and listening to David Bowie. A guy I lived with in residence last year was also Muslim and definately acted like your typical North American guy. And also, please consider this. If you moved to Toronto from Iran and didn't know much English, are you going to want to immediately try to befriend every non-Iranian out there? Personally, I don't think I would, because I'd be nervous and I wouldn't know what to say because my English would not be up to Canadian standards and I would not know what these people are interested in.
I would assume that they havent been ordering enough fertilizer to make the oklahoma city bombings look like a firecracker, and arent planning on blowing up parliment, CSIS, the CBC, RCMP headquarters and beheading the president, which the 18 muslims who were recently arrested here in canada had planned on doing. Apparently there were more arrests in London to people that were linked to them. And these were all canadians, born and raised, some of which used to be regular kids(2 of which still are kids) who recently found "islam". Or atleast some nutjobs interpretation of islam.
Of all the things you could fuck up in Canada, why pick beheading Stephen Harper as a goal? I mean, seriously... It is sad that this threat was/is a threat. But, does it make me look at Muslims differently? No. Maybe if I lived amongst a larger population base, like TO or Vancouver... but what terrorist is going to choose Saskatchewan as a target? Pretty damned safe here with my wheat fields. I did once live amongst faction/extremist Muslims... and amongst faction/extremist Catholics. It was stupid. One side would do something, and the other would retaliate... talk about a circle of uselessness. People have never automatically assimulated as soon as they hit Canadian soil. I am also a 3rd generation Canadian, and if we were assimulated, then I guess I wouldn't be able to dance a mean Fling and make "neeps" in my sleep? Or know my clan's tarten on sight? My Ukrainian friends still wouldn't call their grandparents Baba and Gito (sp) and know that Sabulia is an onion.. and my Filipino friends wouldn't know that you can't really say "Puntug ina mo" in mixed company.
Well now, that's a nice mellow Canadian response. I'm gratified and relieved. (well I wasn't that worried to begin with...) I guess it's a Canadian thing that we didn't lose a tower or two....(or wind up with any headless politicians) -but then, on the other hand, most of them act rather headless, anyhow. I'm a fairly gregarious kind of guy - it's always going to piss me off, that a community walls itself away - I like to know what my fellow-Canadians are thinking about. Perhaps what's really at the heart of the matter - is fundamentalism itself. Doesn't much matter to me what god is worshipped - fruitbats will be fruitbats. Assimilation? I never did that. I never had to. Never even had any choice in the matter. My grandfather did it for me. Hell, by the time I came along - I just did what any kid naturally does (which, in a free society - is to gravitate like anything toward whatever turns their crank.) um, maybe I need to spell this out a bit. I was not harped at or brow-beaten about oldworld values. I was allowed to make up my own mind about what I saw happening right in front of me. So you see, I grew up believing that this is what Canada is - exactly. A place to do that. I don't recall our bill of rights declaring that freedom of worship included plotting acts of treason. (but there I go again down the fundamentalist road.....) mercy! um - back to "automatic assimilation".....I disagree. You know who did? (in the early 1970's) - and let me tell you they made it look awful easy: American draft dodgers. Yep. "thinly-veiled racism?" oh choice! (would that be sorta like the smotheration of a burkha?) -and just on that note right there, I think I'll simply sidestep and let my Canadian feminist sisters speak on their own behalf. I can't do them justice, because I'm not female. You see folks, I can handle real easy the idea of difference. All the difference in the world. (anyone ever visit a Mennonite community?) Fascinating. I don't recall that community ever threatening Canadian sovereignty. I would prefer to hope that this is all just a bunch of inept cranks - overzealous in perhaps some sort of FLQ kind of way....(remember them?) But hell - in a post-9/11 world, it's a little too much like asking for martyrdom. (you know - that Nivana of the endless virgins...) adolescent wet-dreams... Fundamentalist Muslims don't represent their religion any more than fundamentalist Christians do. I'm well aware of that. After 9/11, I yakked my way all through my neighborhood - lot's of family-owned Muslim businesses. I don't think this is a time for tippy-toeing around the gobs of deferential politesse. What's wrong with a little bluster and blather and blown-off steam? I always thought bloodshed in the name of religion was a fool's game - and quite frankly, immoral. -and finally: Well yeah, actually. I DO know what Italian Canadians are up to. I can tell you that they are remarkably more free-wheeling than they were when I was a kid. (except for those grammas) - they still wield a mean umbrella at Honest Ed's. later -
eh. I don't know what to make of it as of yet. They were monitoring these people for 2 years. Mind you, they are/were very young and a cluster of them attended the same mosque (5 of them). Other than that, it's hard to get the real story from the media and news because it's all hush hush. I want to hear more about it though, before I make any quick judgements. I have a friend who is living in Atlanta, and has told me that his fellow classmate had his computer searched and seized by police awhile ago - and was a member of the website and organisation the accusseds (sp? lol) were a part of. A few days ago, he was in all the newspapers down there and had eventually acted as an informant to the Canadian investigation. I have also read major American News articles that accuse Canada of harbouring terrorists, and even broke down 'suspected terrorists by population ratios in the US compared to Canada'. And the politicians had yet to filibuster.
i think it would have been pretty funny if they had decapitated stephen harper. sure, there'd have been lots of bad consequences that would suck, but im sure its been a while since a western leader was decapitated.
um, would "op" be a lazy cyber way of saying original poster? (I'm thinking on my feet here) -just as in the first Gulf War (1991) it makes a whole lot of sense to let the dust settle and some of the hysteria die down............... (if yer serious about Texas you'll find a goodish bit of redneck activity there...) Heard an interesting bit on CBC today - some stats about Canada's Muslim community. Seems they've discovered so very little is known - precisely because this community exists so outside the mainstream. For example - all those classic pics of Muslims praying - exclude 52% of the communty (women) Add to that the number who do not actively practice their religion (30-35%) and suddenly we're dealing with a rather small number of people who possess an enormous profile (ever enlarged by the American propaganda machine.) -which is something I pondered in my original post. But no matter. I'm not here to apologize for reacting to all this. That's like apologizing for being Canadian (a national trait?) Neither am I here to prove some profound political point. I just found it rather odd that nobody was even talking about it in the first place. (sneeky Canadian apathy, or tolerance?) Spooner - you don't have a whole lot to say about it one way or another. Public forums are for thrashing about ideas - not dictating simplistic value judgements. (and that's about as loud as I've ever barked in a forum) When I was a cab driver, amateur muggers were a whole lot scarier than the pros... Aristartle, You raise a good point - that we're at the mercy of whatever the media decide to lay on us (and that's more often the usual convoluted crap) but more importantly, a lot of people can be judged by whatever their percieved "intent" might or might not be, instead of their actual actions. Of course the power elite will scamper around like a bunch of long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs, because we are a lot more vulnerable than they will admit. (Ontario Hydro wants to bring 2 more nukes online) luvly. And finally: whatever the hell we "harbor" up here - I'm sure can be matched tenfold south of the border. We're still not as prone to waving our maple leaf around, thankfully.
