Port Coquitlam Odysseus

[crossposted to another blog of mine] Today is the final day of the hearing in my province, BC, at which Macleans magazine has been charged with fomenting hatred against Muslims. I feel very strongly that this is a dangerous imposition of the government on a fundamental Canadian right: the right to speak and write freely. Because I feel strongly about this, I have given a background post here.

By way of background: this case occurred because some Muslims were offended by an excerpt Macleans ran of one of the #1 bestseller in Canada, America Alone, written by Mark Steyn.

Some important points:

Some Muslims have been offended.
This is true. On the other hand, atheists and Christians have been busy offending each other for decades, yet neither group tries to actively censor the other’s legal right to free speech. To take a prominent example (albeit from America), consider the reaction to the famous artwork “Piss Christ.” Essentially, Christians wrote letters; they did not demand that an artist could not produce art in his own private studio. The reaction of the plaintiffs in this case is completely at odds with the values of our society here in North America.

While some Muslim activists are trying to silence criticism of Islam through this Tribunal, others, such as the Muslim Congress of Canada, are very much opposed to this effort at censorship.
The truly-moderate Muslim Congress of Canada has been ignored by the human rights industry in Canada, and the sign on the courtroom mentions the complaint as being filed “on behalf of the Muslims of British Columbia.”

The plaintiffs adduced many statements from the excerpt that they found objectionable, including one to the effect that Muslims were breading “like flies.”
In fact, many of the most “objectionable” comments were quotations of Muslim clerics, including the “breeding” comment. These passages were taken out of context entirely.

Macleans was accused of favoring only one side (i.e. Steyn’s)
In fact, Macleans published more letters to the editor opposed to the piece than it ever had done in its history. Being a private publication, Macleans is not legally obligated to present viewpoints equally anyway.

The plaintiffs have previously said that they only desired equal space in rebutting Steyn’s article.
In fact, the plaintiffs demanded both money, and a full-length article and cover art produced by them, with little to no editorial control allowed by the magazine. This would have essentially allowed them to hijack the magazine, an inferior option to their simply starting their own publication and including their rebuttals there.

The main plaintiff before the BC Human Rights tribunal is Mohammed El-Masri, the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress.
El-Masri is a notorious anti-Semite. In his role as leader of the Canadian Islamic Congress, he has argued that all Israelis are legitimate military targets of terrorism. Also, El-Masri is not a resident of BC, nor is he testifying before the Tribunal.

The BC Human Rights Tribunal judges refused to allow the defendants to quiz the CIC’s representatives in the trial over the CIC’s anti-Semitic record.
On the other hand, it allowed posts from ordinary bloggers inside and outside of Canada to “show” that the Macleans article produced hatred towards Muslims. In so doing it made the Macleans magazine responsible for a great deal more than should have been the case.

The principal actors in this drama are not from BC.
Macleans is published in Ontario, the primary plaintiff is from Ontario, and almost all of the lawyers are from Ontario.

Macleans planned to call no witnesses.
Oddly, one of the scholars of religion called to witness by the plaintiffs admitted that he liked Steyn’s writing, and thought highly of it(!).

Normal courtroom rules pertaining to admissibility of evidence, libel, procedure, and the like do not apply to the BC Human Rights tribunal.
This has hurt the defense, while the Tribunal appears to be exerting extraterritoriality outside of BC.

In sum, this case should have been laughed out of the coutroom. The BC Human Rights Tribunal judges presiding over this case are out of their depth and appear incompetent. It has been shown that the plaintiffs have lied, and that they are interested only in censoring texts and writers whom they find offensive. Rather than growing up and maturing, they have sought to use the legal apparatus of BC to silence criticism of their religion. It is the efforts of these out-of-touch activists, much more than the original article, that are giving their religion a bad name in some quarters.

In my country, Canada, people have a legal right to express their opinions, even opinions highly critical of religion. This case represents a travesty of justice at every level, from the big picture issues of free speech to the nuts and bolts of courtroom rules and jurisdiction.

Kevin and I

My long-time friend Kevin Kim, more usually known in some circles as “the Big Hominid,” touched down in Vancouver today, and it was my pleasure to have dinner with him. Despite being rather short on sleep, and thus on energy, I had a great time, and I’m very touched that Kevin came to see me. My few readers, who should know that Kevin designed the image at the top of the sidebar, can go to Kevinswalk.blogspot.com to find out what Kevin is up to now.

My main blog, Curatorandcollector.com, which is hosted by Hostpapa.ca, is down today. Technical support is not available until tomorrow. I checked my Statcounter, and the last person to my site was a visitor who had googled “problems with Hostpapa.” Ominous. I hope things can get running tomorrow, and I hope that nothing has been hacked.

One year ago today, exactly, Chae Young and young Telemachus and I arrived back in Canada from Seoul. I’m not really sure where that leaves us at the present time, which brings me to another thought.

Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valour. I have a lot to say, and it’s an effort to hold back here. Much of it, especially about sociological and political trends, is simply too controversial for the moment–although I would like to start writing what I really and deeply feel. Then, too, there’s the feeling that I must, well, reveal rather less of myself here, now that I am back in the North American employment zone. Also, there are so many politics and news blogs that I feel the need for space for something a little more contemplative. Unfortunately, that has yet to emerge here, I think.

Meanwhile, in case you’ve missed it, I’ve blogged everyday for over four weeks, now, at my new blog. This is a source of real pleasure and joy for me; most of what is on there is not politically charged, and I feel free to say most of what I think about most issues that I cover there. There’s also the excitement of staying on top of a field–two, in this case–and finding things to write about. There’s no shortage of material, and writing about old and treasured things and places excites me.

Look for another post here, from time to time, though.

It’s not a scholarly one, but I’ve just been told that my first article (as opposed to a letter to an editor of a newspaper or magazine) will be published–and soon. Look for “A Newmismatic Moment #1″ in the forthcoming issue of the Canadian Numismatic Association’s journal. And yes, my spelling was deliberate, since I’m hoping to continue to write a column intended chiefly to explore numismatics from the perspective of an amateur. I hope that if I have a readership, it can grow with me.
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By the way, one of my biggest regrets in life is that I never submitted for publication a paper I gave back at an SBL conference in Toronto in 2002. It concerned the Siloam Tunnel Inscription, and I argued that it was incorrectly classed as a building inscription. It should be classed as a waterworks inscription, which has very different rules and expectations. Several waterworks inscriptions of Sennacherib that were very similar to the Siloam text in terms of vocabulary and content were unearthed in the early 20th century, but they have never been properly appreciated.

A certain someone well-known to this blog’s few readers has just put up a highly-recommended new blog about numismatics and museums. Go check out Curatorandcollector.com. Expect daily to near-daily updates!
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And yes, this blog will continue to be updated–I’m not giving it up.

There have been three local stories that have really captured my attention recently. Each points to fundamental problems in Vancouver society.

The first and least important, if there is such a measure here, concerns a busking musician who was killed in the North Fraser pretrial jail facility. This story appears to be a very tragic one, with several unanswered questions. First, did John Parker have a previous criminal record, and if so, was it a violent one? The crime he was accused of is what most of us might call self-defense, depending on the circumstances–he was being harassed for busking with his guitar outside a liquor store, and he used pepper-spray on the man who was harassing him. For that he went to jail–rather surprising in a society where young teens can commit murder and never see the inside of a penitentiary. The saddest part of all is that the man lived in jail in constant fear of his life. At some point, I hope the judge in his case will indicate why this man was sent to jail when he apparently posed no flight risk or risk to the community.

The second story concerns the young girl who was “tortured” by the Victoria police department. The use of the word “torture” in this context by the BC Civil Liberties Association is complete bull—-, for lack of a better word. There was no torture. The fifteen year-old girl was not tasered, she was not struck, she was not assaulted. She was calmly taken to the floor of a padded jail cell and tied there for four hours. Now, according to the Victoria Times Colonist, the neighbour who called 911 had indicated that she had taken ecstasy tablets (a fact the CBC story ignores), and was also drunk. She had engaged in violent behavior, she was apparently stoned as well as drunk, and was unable to give her address or phone number to the officers. She was uncooperative at several stages, and actively resisting the officers. She is now 18, and is seeking money from the police.

The police response may have been somewhat heavy-handed, but it cannot be described as either abusive or torturous. At some point, people–including 15 year-old teenagers–have to take responsibility for their actions, this girl included. The response of her mother has been heart-breaking. The mother did not call the police after her daughter did not come home even by 4:30am. She did not maintain either the door-bell or the intercom of her house, which meant that the girl could not ring the door. Rather than thanking the police for saving her daughter and then getting after her daughter for staying out past-hours on (apparently) drugs, and (certainly) alcohol, the mother has blamed the police for everything. No better example of an enabler of bad behavior can be found than this terrible mother.

Finally, the police may have felt threatened by the “victim” because she was high on drugs. Her now infamous diminutive stature is more than made up for by the strength and misjudgment that comes from abusing drugs. The officers may have worried that the girl would try to infect them with a disease, or knee them in the groin. Again, they did not kick, punch, otherwise violently engage her. It is shameful for this “victim” family to attempt to ride on the tail of the taser fatality at YVR in this fashion, as they are consciously doing. This case, and the sympathetic treatment of it by several media outlets, threatens to mislead the public into excessive criticism of the police, and blurs the line between real police misconduct and tragedy (as at YVR), and mere police assertiveness. Meanwhile, belligerent, drugged-up young people and their enabling parents need to shape up and reflect on the role that taking responsibility for one’s actions ought to play in daily life.

The last story concerns yesterday’s stabbing of a Filipino immigrant’s son. Now in this case, the mother had appeared to have done her best–she was raising the boy without the support of his real father, and she had changed his school in an attempt to separate him from his bad friends. On his Facebook site, the boy had written, “Life sucks and then you die/ But if your filipino,/ You die with some damn pride.” It is a great pity that the boy and those around him did not have less pride and more good judgment [UPDATE: Further information shows that I was too harsh–see below]. Meanwhile, the young man accused of his murder is eighteen years old–an absolutely depraved bully.

The story recalled the 2003 death of Jomar Lanot, a Filipino who was murdered by a group of Indo-Canadians who were apparently taunting him and his friends.

The ugly spectre of racism, or at least racial tension, does rear its head here, I think. Meanwhile, why are so many youth not learning basic values, such as compassion, empathy, and taking personal responsibility for their actions? If this basic training does not take place, we can look forward to the world continuing to go to hell in a handcart.
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UPDATE: This CBC story indicates that the young man in question lived for four years in the Philippines without his mother. His mother came to Canada under the Live in Caregiver program–a program that does not allow family to accompany the immigrant caregiver until two years have passed. The boy had grown up without a father and without a mother for four critical, formative years of his life. He wanted to leave Canada and return to the Philippines, and one almost thinks that this was his way out. All this is a great tragedy. I wish that our government would humanize our immigration policies to promote the ability of families to be together, and I wish that would-be immigrants would realize that strong, united families trump all the benefits associated with life in Canada. Here we had a very brave mother doing the best she could, an unbending government policy, and sadly predictable–though no less tragic–consequences. My condolences to her and her family.

From the current issue of the Canadian Numismatic Journal: This year is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Royal Mint in Ottawa.

“2008 is also the 150th anniversary of decimal coinage in Canada, which began with the Province of Canada issues of 1858. As well, this year is the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Colony of British Columbia, the centennial of which was marked in 1958 by the Royal Canadian Mint issuing its fourth commemorative silver dollar.”

Sounds like a good time to celebrate my 30th birthday! A belated but warm “happy birthday” to my brother, who celebrates his own birthday one day before mine.

I woke up this morning to find in my email inbox this one-liner from my friend Brian of Gangwon-do:

I don’t know what time it is in BC but hurry up and start blogging about Bobby Fischer!

I subsequently went to the news sites, and discovered that Bobby Fischer has died. I don’t really have much to say about Fischer, a chess genius who clearly exhibited some anti-social tendencies. His insistence that chess is nothing more than an attempt to break the spirit of the other player lowered the game, even if his wresting the chess crown from the dominant USSR was an event worth celebrating. Nor do I think him the greatest chessplayer of all time: that honour I reserve for Garry Kasparov, or, possibly, Kramnik, who shut out the former in a great match some years ago. Fischer was no sportsman, either, and he lost his crown by default after refusing to play the challenger. I do not even think Fischer an entirely sane man, spouting off, as he did, crazy conspiracy theories about “Jews,” the US, and 9/11 (Fischer’s own mother is Jewish.)

It is much more heartening for me to see that, after a break from the top tournament cycle, Teimour Radjabov has launched a stunning comeback. He is currently tied with Kramnik for second in the Wijk aan Zee tournament, has zero losses, and has chalked up another win against a World Champion: Anand.

(With apologies for the pun.)

I completely disagree that Hillary’s shedding a few tears over the difficulty of her job makes her more human; it does make her more of a megalomaniac. Does she really think she’s entitled to the presidency or to people’s affections? Why should either be automatically given to her? If I were the Big Hominid, I would put together a little animation (photoshopped), like this, ripping off episode 3 of Star Wars:

Mace Windu (with the face of Barack Obama): “The Senate will decide your fate.”
Senator Palpatine (with the face of Hilary Clinton): “I am the Senate!”
Mace Windu-Obama: “Not yet!”
Palpatine-Clinton: “It’s treason, then. Argghhh!”

Frame 2: Palpatine-Clinton kills two jedi.

It’s that sense of entitlement, that sense that my person is the government, that so many people found distasteful about the Clintons from Bill’s time as president.