Category: Current Events

Dear Western World and Media…. You got it wrong!

I am reblogging a TikTok that was sent to me on whatsapp a few days ago because I think everyone needs to hear these words!!

The Western world and media have the coverage of the situation in Gaza and Palestine all wrong. The People of Palestine have been oppressed and under an illegal, genocidal apartheid regime for decades.
Please remember that as you judge them for being less than human.

“You don’t have to support Hamas policies to stand up for Palestinian rights.” – Gabor Mate


I want to be clear- I do not support or condone the behaviour of Hamas. I do however, support the innocent Palestinians who have to beg for water, for food, for the right to be educated and to pray.

Would you tolerate that? Would you tolerate your children being imprisoned, without trials, without access to representation, not being able to see their families for months at a time? Their only charge? Being Palestinian.

I watched a video on YouTube wherein a mother in Palestine refused to go to the market to buy food because she said “if we leave our houses, when we come back, ‘they have already moved in.’ ” They being the illegal Israeli occupiers. These “settlers” are committing crimes under International laws. And yet, are never held to account.

Tell me you would tolerate living like that.

And then tell me where your moral indignation and outrage are.

Global Boiling, Palestine and Consumerism…

A lot of things have been on my mind lately; the genocidal apartheid occurring in Palestine, the number of people dying due to environmental and climate change, and that we’re now in the era of Global Boiling, as António Guterres, the UN Secretary General stated in his speech to the U.N.

It’s scary; we passed the point of no return 30 years ago. We’ve been saying –  for as long as I can remember – that what we’re doing to this beautiful planet is not good. Now, we’re beyond “Climate change.” The climate has already changed and it’s time for you naysayers to jump on the “we need to fix this yesterday!” bandwagon.  We’re in the era of “Global Boiling,” which means the earth is much hotter than it should be and we’re going to be affected by this in a huge way. The fires in Maui, the Northwest Territories (Canada), BC (Canada), Alberta (Canada) are prime examples of this …. 

For every forest that’s lost, we lose the ability to protect the earth from uncaptured Carbon Dioxide. We lose the ability to cool ourselves, to breathe in oxygen, to protect our wildlife. This planet is starting to feel quite dystopian.  And no one can tell me we don’t need oxygen. 

It’s scary that the world cares more for people in the Ukraine than it ever will for the people of Palestine and Yemen, both of which are suffering from drought, famine, extreme hardship and in Palestine, from the manipulatively imposed, genocidal Israeli apartheid.  What is it that makes it so easy to turn away from people who may not look like you? 

Does Rwanda ring any bells?  Congo? Uganda? Afghanistan?  70% of the world’s population does not live in the “Western World.”  Nor do they look like the presupposed Caucasian “norm.”  Canada and the United States only account for .48% and 4.3%* (respectively) the world’s population.  Given that we’re eight billion and counting, that’s not a huge amount.

Every day in Palestine, people have to ask the Israelis for permission to pray, to get water, to go to school, work or university. Would you tolerate that?  Did you know that Palestinians are under water restrictions just because the Israelis feel they own the land?  Would you tolerate that?  Some of you won’t even tolerate your neighbours building fences near your property, let alone having them usurp your land, water and food supplies. Every day that you turn a blind eye is another day that a Palestinian person is killed, imprisoned, prohibited from prayer or forced to choose between going grocery shopping and protecting his/her home.

You think Palestine doesn’t matter.  It does.  It’s one of the longest, most continually inhabited places on the planet.  And if you think “well, the Palestinians always retaliate,” you would be right. And you would be wrong. 

We’re talking about young men, with sticks and rocks perpetually facing tanks, rifles, military grade weapons, grenades, and soldiers with killer instinct training, brandishing weapons that could tear a person apart in mere seconds. Young men who are being systematically, perpetually killed off so that they cannot produce offspring. You call this a fair fight?  Really?  You cannot fault the Palestinians simply because they were born where they were born. And you cannot call this a “fight.” It’s systemic. It’s genocidal; the cultural erasure of one nation by another. Just ask the Uighurs of China if they’re in a fair fight.

China has just outlawed “God,” and is in the process of rewriting the Torah, the Bible and the Qu’ran because it wants the president to be worshipped and all loyalty to its own state. it literally wants to “rewrite history.” Who gave them the authority to determine what’s legit and what isn’t? And what will happen to the people, many of whom are Christian, Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist and Daoist? Are they to stop believing just because their president wants them to?

You know, when you mess with things that are beyond your control or comprehension, consequences abound.

Which brings me to my next scary point; consumerism. People cannot help where they were born. And most live in countries which are being harmed by the overconsumption, degradation and harm caused by developed countries, who, quite frankly, ought to know better.  The mass consumerism that feeds our seemingly insatiable desire for more, faster, better, is going to tear this fragile planetary ecosystem apart. 

These fires are not a result of a cool planet.  The droughts affecting lands once fertile are not a result of a cool planet. The mass scale flooding, viruses spreading like they’re perfume, and boiling summer temperatures are not results of a cool planet.  These result from neglect on a humungous scale; an industrial scale. Humans are destroying the planet faster than we can heal her.

So, let me ask you this: when every tree has burned and there are no more to grow, what then will you build? What will be left to rewrite?

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II

Many years ago, I was outspoken in my absolute disregard for the British Monarchy.  As it goes with many things, years later,  I found myself being rather happily corrected in my assumptions.

We seem to dismiss and disrespect that which we don’t understand.  Living in a “non-monarchy,” it’s very easy to scorn a system that’s seemingly challenging on the taxpayer. Yet, the Brits seem to welcome this challenge with a smile and some form of inebriation!

My outlook completely changed in the spring of 2001, in the charming and quaint town of Windsor, U.K.. My aunt had taken me to the high road, running just along Windsor Castle because a procession was about to take place.  His highness, the King of Jordan, King Abdullah and his wife, Queen Rania were in town and were to be feted and driven through the streets in the Royal carriages.  As a lover of history and international relations, I could not pass up the opportunity to see this Middle Eastern power couple! 

70 years strong


What took my breath away was the number of people who turned out, in the middle of the week, to see the procession! I remember I was wearing new arch supports in my trainers and my feet were not happy at all.  But that frustration quickly turned to awe and reverence when Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth suddenly popped into view and smiled at her cheering subjects.  I melted then and there, and in an instant, regretted every “royal” snub or jeer I had ever uttered!  To this day, I remember that smile more than I remember King Abdullah or Queen Rania or the people on the street or the gold-laced carriage or the horses. I remember thinking she smiled right at me but I suppose this must be wishful thinking.  That smile, in one instant, undid the ridicule and judgement of the previous years.  And in that instant, a new royal fan was born. 

I must let you know that prior to this unravelling, I had met Prince Charles and Princess Diana in person and was even granted a gold level Duke of Edinburgh award from the Duke of Edinburgh himself, the late Honorable Prince Philip.  I was not undone by any of them.  There was a bit of star-struck awe at the sight of Princess Diana up close – she was quite beautiful!

That day, in 2001 in Windsor, I began to understand what an absolute treasure the Queen is; not only to her U.K. subjects, but to her subjects of the Commonwealth.  Her 70 years of service is not matched by many.  In fact, the Queen is the only living monarch to achieve this landmark milestone.  I was fortunate enough to be in London for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations and I was stunned- the fanfare, the pomp, the circumstance, the flyovers and the party- What a party!! It’s a celebration I will never forget and it was a very quick education in the appreciation of tradition.  My only regret is that I cannot be in London today for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, so I will say only this:


Thank you your Majesty and Congratulations!  You Go old Girl!!

Afghanistan….

I’m sure all of you know by now, the situation in Afghanistan. So, as always, let me give you my two cents:

Was this a cock-up?  For sure, yes.  But solely by the Americans and allies, no.  The powers that be in Afghanistan tasked with stabilizing internal forces, keeping the Taliban at bay, building and maintaining infrastructure and training military forces, whilst upholding human rights for women and girls, need to be held accountable as well.

Afghanistan was a perfect storm of opportunities; it’s history of being the “graveyard of empires;” of absolute resilience and persistence in the face of atrocities and hardships; its ability to host and hide terrorist elements for very long periods of time and to produce incredible people in the midst of its difficult geography, culminated in the ideal brew of cunning operatives.  Think about the ability of a group of people who have not only “held off” two of the most powerful military groups in the world, but who have, within 11 days, in a bloodless coup, taken over an entire country. This is not a short-term problem. Add long term economic downturn, high demand for drugs and opiates and constant political strife, and you have a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the ‘fluster cluck’ that is the evacuation of Western allies. Top that off with a president who fled rather than remain and reassure his people!

The Taliban will lie to the world because it’s what we want to hear.  They will tell us they will grant asylum to all who aided the U.S. and its allied forces.  However, as of August 19th or 20th, 2021, reports came out of Afghanistan detailing a door to door manhunt for interpreters and other helpers to the allied forces.  In opposition, the new spokesperson from The Taliban cultural group, Abdul Kahar Balkhi talks about those raids as “discipline within our own ranks,” shedding an unwitting light on discrepancy within the group.  And it seems to be this divergence that is responsible for the differing accounts of what the Taliban agenda is and what western media outlets are reporting.

The people targeted by those raids, if caught, will be killed. So if they’re doing that to people to whom they have promised asylum, what is going to happen to the women and girls who depend upon the positive strides made within the last 20 years? The last time the Taliban were in power, they were no different from Boko Haram or ISIS.  And yet, the world stood by and did nothing while Afghanistan witnessed largescale female suicides.  And what of the girls who are dreaming of becoming teachers, doctors, lawyers, advocates, human rights defenders, engineers?  What’s to become of them?

Ali M. Latifi, freelance Afghani journalist, put it quite succinctly:

“Now, in the days since Ghani left the country open for a Taliban takeover, people in Kabul are wondering about their personal freedoms. Women are afraid to go to the store to buy groceries for their children, because they do not know if the Taliban will stop them for not having a male companion. Others worry that their attire could draw the ire, and possibly violence, of the group. Overnight, these fears have turned the capital into an almost entirely male city.”

You might be wondering who this group is.  They are groups of men, deeply steeped in religion and deeply skilled in security and control. The western world looks at them as a homogenous group, but they are not.  They vary in belief and practice from region to region.  The one thing they do agree on is that they want power and control over Afghanistan under Sharia Law. (Often with regressive cultural practices.)  Now let me be very clear:  Sharia Law is not, in and of itself, a regressive cultural practice.  In fact, there is historical precedent, where sharia law was in place for 600 years and not a single hand was cut off, nor was anyone stoned.  You see, forgiveness is a huge aspect of that law.  If a crime is committed and it is forgiven, it is seen as a charity or a charitable act.  Islamically, that is more pleasing to God than the imposition of the law itself.  Moreover, there isn’t one strict interpretation of the laws that fits all people.  In fact, the laws themselves seek out justice, not tyranny or terror.  

We only have to look at the Ottoman Empire to realize how “fluid and progressive” their interpretation of sharia law was. Remember that over time, cultural practices are often mistaken for religious belief.  And in countries in which girls and women are denied access to education, those cultural beliefs are bastardized into religious practice – convincing innocent people that ‘tradition’ is law.  

(On the other hand, looking at all states/countries which have a death penalty or policies of hanging people convicted of crimes, or nations which have severe and barbaric penalties for blasphemy, we can honestly say that all of humanity has work to do.)


So, this begs the questions- which “interpretation” of Sharia Law fits the people of Afghanistan? And is this the Taliban of years past? Only time will tell.  And only time will tell how much “disagreement” there is within the Taliban ranks. I have been told by several people, that the Taliban want peace; that the people have been through too much. Though, I have to question – peace at what cost? With dissension within, this writer suspects that this is just the beginning of yet more civil strife in this barren and beautiful landscape.  My heart and prayers are with her people.



Meanwhile, in Haiti…

Love is stronger than hate

My broken heart cannot express in words the sadness and anguish I feel over the loss of the family from London, Ontario who were so mercilessly taken from us.

My heart grieves for you and for the entirety of the Muslim Community in Canada.
I stand with you in every capacity.


Enough is enough people!! Heinous acts of hatred have no place here or anywhere.

My prayers and my condolences go out to all affected.
May you find peace in faith and may those who were taken rest in the beautiful light and love of the Almighty.

💔💔💔💔💔

“Amor vincit omnia.” (Love conquers all.)

#LdnOnt

The 215 and other atrocities…

It seems like every time I turn around, there’s more and more bad news. And the thing is, the bad news goes from bad to worse.

The discovery of the bodies of 215 children buried on residential school grounds is so disgustingly heart-wrenching– it’s taken me this long to process. I can’t even imagine what the Indigenous populations are feeling right now – and my whole heart goes out to them.

Hearing this news angered me too – on what planet were people living to think that this was justifiable behaviour? And are we not seeing the very same in other places today? In 2021, a good portion of our Indigenous population doesn’t have clean water to drink. Would you tolerate that in your communities? There would be international outcry if the rights of the “non-BIPOC majority” were not being met.

I’m sickened to think that people of a certain faith group, who claimed to follow the teachings of their holy book, would invoke such incredulous and grotesque conduct towards people who looked nothing like them. (I understand that those people are not representative of the Catholic whole, the Catholics I have met are indeed nothing like that. )

It’s taken two whole years for Canada to finally have movement on the Truth and Reconciliation committee. Two years!! I suppose we should consider that lightning speed given that people are still under a long-term boil water advisory!

I think the real atrocity here is that there has been silence from the Catholic Church on this issue. Even when pressed by world leaders to adapt to changing times, the Catholic church will recognize people of differing sexual orientations, but won’t admit to cultural genocide. Should this be surprising in light of how many of its pedophilic-oriented bishops and archbishops were promoted rather than jailed?

Is it really surprising that Israel is getting away with murder because they have aligned themselves with the most Non-Bipoc oriented of allies? The U.S. congress hated having a black president so much, that they forgot who elected them and made it their mandate to get rid of him no matter what.


The saddest thing is that all this bad news is deafening the wonderful things that are happening in the world. Clean energy tech and organizations are skyrocketing. People in Africa, India and parts of Asia are “re-greening” desert areas! We are learning how to fish and farm responsibly – and repair the environment at the same time. People have remembered their humanity.

One day, I would like to turn on the news and see more good than bad. We can do it people — there is hope for us yet!


Peace and love

Palestine

and the reckoning of past institutional hatred:

I’m so tired of lecturing to the world. I’m tired of giving advice and yes, even a little tired of speaking truth to power.

W(hy) T.F. is it so hard for us as human beings to treat other human beings as human beings?

When something like a pandemic happens, or incredibly difficult social strife occurs, we learn a lot about peoples’ behaviours. Those of us who chose to wear masks and abide by governmental health orders had to square off daily, against those who just don’t give a damn. Why was that necessary?

Your rights are your rights yes, just as my rights are mine. When you do something stupid, you remove the agency which governs our lives. And by extension, my right to protect myself from you.

Much in the same way that Israel is doing to Palestine. which brings me to the “reckoning of past institutional behaviour.” How do we condemn this apartheid when Saudi Arabia is basically doing the same thing in Yemen? Where is your moral outrage for them? For the Rohingya or the Uighurs? The Yazidis, the Syrians, the Lebanese, the Afghanis, et al?

There doesn’t seem to be a country on this beautiful, struggling planet that has “gotten it right.” If there is one, please do correct me. What I mean by getting it right, is treating each of citizens, regardless of race, colour, creed, gender, sexual orientation or religious beliefs, as human beings. One that doesn’t rely on preferential treatment based on institutionalized gender preference. Indeed, that is the larger problem. Women, on the whole, prefer dialogue to war.

Hateful words, behaviours and attitudes are taught. Sadly, mostly at home. Children do not go to school to be taught hatred. In fact, most have to be “untaught.” The deconstruction of home-taught hatred is a hard battle to fight, but so damned worth it!

There is no planet B. There is no superior race coming to save us. Trust me, there’s no chance of that. We blew that the moment we made war a method of behaviour and discrimination a way of life.

Palestine needs saving. And Israel needs to give their land back. That’s all there is to it. They are long-lost cousins who need to forgive each other, love each other and live in harmony. That may be a pipe dream, but it’s also it a fact.

There is a reckoning that is happening here; for all the ways in which we have harmed each other, the universe is responding. The earth is responding. And now, so are all the communities who have been oppressed, suppressed, depressed and recessed into marginalization. You can’t keep good people down for very long.

You see, ethnic communities teach their children about what not to do around “white people.” We grow up being taught “learn the system, beat the system.” because “the system” was not designed for our success. Ironically, Israel has done this beautifully. It’s like when two people who are attracted to each other meet and get to know each other. One of them says to the other “this is what hurt me in the past.” Then the other turns around and does exactly what hurt the first one, but does it in a spectacularly evil fashion. “Learn the system, beat the system.”

Behaviour is taught.

Israel has learned a great deal, and the Palestinians have no choice but to live in fear of a short-sighted Hamas and hate-filled Israelis. From whence does strength come when strength is always being tested?

So you see, as tired as I am, I will keep “getting into good trouble.” And I will keep deconstructing unnecessary behaviour. I just need your help to do so. Will you step up?

Treason? Civil War? Take your pick?

Hey Readers!

Do you remember a couple of months ago when I wrote:

“Professors, former members of President Obama’s staff and journalists have been warning us since last year: the far-right domestic terrorist groups have been emboldened by the OB (orange buffoon) and have been ramping up activities, both online and in public. If OB loses, and refuses to hand over power, what happens?’

And…

“What do you do when there is a baby bully in a position of power and has, arguably, the largest platform for change available, and he is refusing to “get out of the crib” without disrupting everything around it?”

Image Courtesy of NBC News

Did you really think I was blowing smoke?

WHY DID IT TAKE THE MILITARY AND NATIONAL GUARD SO LONG TO MOBILIZE??

You have known for months, weeks, days and have absolutely no excuse whatsoever to say “we didn’t know” or “we didn’t think this would happen.” Really?

You know this behaviour is tantamount to Treason. And the last time I checked, Treason was punishable by death in the good ole U.S. of A.

If this were the Black Lives Matters protestors, (who quite frankly know better), we would be having a very different conversation and you would be reading a profanity-laced, insult-ridden blog about the Orange Buffoon and his cronies.

Oh wait – I forgot, the very fact that I call him the Orange Buffoon is insulting in and of itself.

Sorry not sorry. There are no other words for an over-indulged, not-spanked-enough-megalomaniacal, nihilistic, spoilt-brute-of-a-child-ignoramus-bigoted-racist who behaves as though the world owes him a favour and he won’t stop till he gets what he wants.

Nor will he stop until he has destroyed the process and functionality of democracy and delegitimized honest folk who voted their consciences.